Warriors: What Happens Next (Post-Vision of Shadows)
by warriorsfan101
Summary: Following the events of A Vision of Shadows and Squirrelflight's Hope (unreleased at this time), the clans face their harshest leafbare in seasons. Based on the blurb for Warriors: Lost Stars, this story follows my interpretations of what might happen in The Broken Code. Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, settings, or content.
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**Allegiances**

 **ThunderClan-**

 **Leader:** Bramblestar

 **Deputy:** Squirrelflight

 **Medicine cats:** Leafpool

Jayfeather

Alderheart

 **Warriors:** Brackenfur

Brightheart

Thornclaw

Cloudtail

Whitewing

Birchfall

Berrynose- **Apprentice:** Thriftpaw

Mousewhisker- **Apprentice:** Plumpaw

Poppyfrost

Cinderheart

Lionblaze

Rosepetal- **Apprentice:** Stempaw

Bumblestripe- **Apprentice:** Shellpaw

Blossomfall

Ivypool

Cherryfall- **Apprentice:** Flippaw

Molewhisker

Ambermoon- **Apprentice:** Eaglepaw

Dewnose- **Apprentice:** Flypaw

Stormcloud- **Apprentice:** Spotpaw

Hollytuft

Fernsong

Sorrelstripe- **Apprentice:** Bristlepaw

Leafshade

Larksong

Honeyfur- **Apprentice:** Snappaw

Twigbranch

Finleap

 **Apprentices:** Stempaw (Blossomfall and Thornclaw's son)

Plumpaw (Blossomfall and Thornclaw's daughter)

Shellpaw (Blossomfall and Thornclaw's son)

Eaglepaw (Blossomfall and Thornclaw's daughter)

Snappaw (Cinderheart and Lionblaze's son)

Spotpaw (Cinderheart and Lionblaze's daughter)

Flypaw (Cinderheart and Lionblaze's daughter)

Bristlepaw (Ivypool and Fernsong's daughter)

Thriftpaw (Ivypool and Fernsong's daughter)

Flippaw (Ivypool and Fernsong's son)

 **Queens:** Daisy

Sparkpelt (mother to Larksong's kits: Shadekit, Puddlekit, Rainkit, and Flamekit)

 **Elders:** Graystripe

Millie

 **WindClan-**

 **Leader:** Harestar

 **Deputy:** Crowfeather

 **Medicine cat:** Kestrelflight- **Apprentice:** Lilacpaw

 **Warriors:** Nightcloud

Gorsetail

Leaftail

Emberfoot

Breezepelt

Heathertail

Larkwing- **Apprentice:** Flaxpaw

Sedgewhisker

Slightfoot

Oatclaw

Featherpelt- **Apprentice:** Sootpaw

Hootwhisker

Brindlepelt

Smokeheart

 **Apprentices:** Sootpaw

Flaxpaw

Lilacpaw

 **Queens:** Fernstripe (mother to Oatclaw's kits: Surgekit, Robinkit, and Flickkit)

 **Elders:** Whitetail

 **SkyClan-**

 **Leader:** Leafstar

 **Deputy:** Hawkwing

 **Medicine cats:** Frecklewish

Fidgetstep

 **Mediator:** Tree

 **Warriors:** Sparrowpelt

Cherrytail- **Apprentice:** Swallowpaw

Macgyver

Plumwillow- **Apprentice:** Quailpaw

Sagenose

Harrybrook

Blossomheart- **Apprentice:** Snakepaw

Cloudmist

Tinycloud

Sandynose- **Apprentice:** Pigeonpaw

Rabbitleap

Bellaleaf

Violetshine- **Apprentice:** Bloompaw

Nectarwing

Dewspots- **Apprentice:** Sunnypaw

Gravelfoot

Fringeclaw- **Apprentice:** Redpaw

Reedfur

 **Apprentices:** Quailpaw

Pigeonpaw

Sunnypaw

Bloompaw

Snakepaw

Redpaw

Swallowpaw

 **Queens:** Palecloud (mother to Dewspots' kits: Morningkit and Dawnkit)

 **Elders:** Fallowfern

 **ShadowClan-**

 **Leader:** Tigerstar

 **Deputy:** Scorchfur

 **Medicine cats:** Puddleshine- **Apprentice:** Shadowpaw

 **Warriors:** Tawnypelt- **Apprentice:** Lightpaw

Dovewing

Snowbird

Berryheart

Sparrowtail- **Apprentice:** Pouncepaw

Cloverfoot

Juniperclaw- **Apprentice:** Conepaw

Strikestone- **Apprentice:** Gullpaw

Slatefur- **Apprentice:** Sunpaw

Stonewing- **Apprentice:** Frondpaw

Grassheart

Mintfur- **Apprentice:** Spirepaw

Nettlesplash- **Apprentice:** Hollowpaw

Antfur

Blazeheart

Snakefang

Whorlpelt

Flowershade

 **Apprentices:** Gullpaw

Conepaw

Frondpaw

Shadowpaw

Lightpaw

Pouncepaw

Hollowpaw

Spirepaw

Sunpaw

 **Queens:** Cinnamontail (mother to Antfur's kits: Fiercekit, Runningkit, and Smokykit)

 **Elders:** Oakfur

Ratscar

 **RiverClan-**

 **Leader:** Mistystar

 **Deputy:** Reedwhisker

 **Medicine cats:** Mothwing

Willowshine

 **Warriors:** Duskfur

Minnowtail

Mallownose

Curlfeather

Podlight

Heronwing

Shimmerpelt

Lizardtail

Havenpelt

Sneezecloud

Brackenpelt- **Apprentice:** Weedpaw

Jayclaw

Owlnose

Icewing

Softwing- **Apprentice:** Streampaw

Dappleheart

Breezestep

Harebreeze

Gorsewhisker

 **Apprentices:** Streampaw

Weedpaw

 **Queens:** Lakeheart (mother to Jayclaw's kits: Stonekit and Mossykit)

Nightwind (mother to Gorsewhisker's kit: Blackkit)

 **Elders:** Mosspelt

 **Prologue**

Long strings of heather blew in the wind beneath an intense and cloudless blue sky as small waves rippled across the surface of the lake. The air was peaceful and warm, silent. The slight breeze felt wonderful on the ginger tom's fur as he lied on the coast of the lake, drowsily dipping a paw into the water to watch the ripples he made connect with those made by the wind. His intense green eyes stared back at him when he looked into the water. In some ways, he was happier than he had been in a long time. Relaxed. Not a care in the world.

A twig snapped behind him, tearing him away from his peace.

The ginger tom spun around quickly, claws sheathed. Whoever snuck up on him could not be an enemy. Not here.

A dark gray she-cat with matted fur and a flat face stared back at him. A hint of amusement shone in her dark amber gaze. She purred and pushed past him, sitting at the edge of the water. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"It's odd to see you so far from the forest, Firestar," she said with a raspy voice.

Firestar purred and joined his old friend by the water. He sat and gently ran his tail down her back in greeting. Then he curled his tail around his paws and looked at their reflections in the water. Yellowfang's gaze stared back at him from within the reflection. The amusement was gone, replaced now by a sense of urgency.

"Yellowfang, what is it?" Firestar asked worriedly.

"Trouble is brewing. I sense something coming. A force strong enough to wipe the stars from the skies we walk in. And I fear that we will be powerless to stop it," she meowed with uncertainty.

"A prophecy?" Firestar asked curiously.

"Not yet. The time will come for that, but now it falls on me to warn the rest of our fallen warriors," Yellowfang responded sadly.

Firestar closed his eyes and allowed the information to wash over him like the waves. The water pushed past his paws and fell back quickly. He opened his eyes and saw the darkness in the lake. Like a wildfire, it spread through the water until all of the light was snuffed out from its surface. The pitch black water rushed back towards Firestar's paws, and he jumped back, startled.

"You see it?" Yellowfang asked, having already taken a few steps back. She was leaving to warn the other members of StarClan.

" _Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever,_ " Firestar whispered, half to himself.

"Only half of the prophecy has been revealed, Firestar. We must warn the others to see what they may know. Walk with me," the old gray cat demanded.

Firestar looked back as he began to walk beside his old friend. He wanted to keep the picture of the darkened lake in his memory. For now, the threat of darkness rose above all else.

…

The oak trees that guarded the forest grew tall and sturdy, acting as a shield between the forest clans and the forces from outside them. The leaves whispered with the breeze and the bright sunlight shone through the branches of the trees. The hardened earth was warm and marked with the pawsteps of many cats through the passing of the seasons.

The wall of oak trees opened to reveal a clearing in the middle of the forest. A large lone tree trunk sat in the center of the clearing, the sunlight filtered through the branches and shone brightly on the trunk. A small group of cats sat around the trunk of the ancient tree, each there for the same purpose as one another.

Firestar and Yellowfang were the last cats to filter into the clearing. Firestar took a seat among the crowd, while Yellowfang hopped up onto the trunk. She sat in the spot where the sun shone brightest.

Firestar checked to see who he was sitting beside. To his right, a blue-gray she-cat stood with her blue eyes clouded. Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan when he came to the forest. Unsurprised, he turned to the left to examine the cat there. Cinderpelt, Firestar's former apprentice and Yellowfang's replacement in ThunderClan, sat with her tail curled around her paws. Firestar noticed gladly that her limp leg was healed among the stars.

Yellowfang turned and met the gaze of each representative of the clans. From RiverClan, Oakheart stood with Leopardstar and Mudfur. From ShadowClan, Blackstar sat proudly between Littlecloud and Rowanclaw. WindClan's representatives were Onestar, Barkface, and Ashfoot. The newest members of their ranks, SkyClan, stood slightly away from the other representatives. Awkwardly, Echosong sat with Sharpclaw and Skywatcher. Though each proud in their own right, they knew they were the youngest StarClan representatives. Since SkyClan's rebirth, its sole leader had not died. Their last leader, Buzzardstar, was half-faded somewhere among the tall pines.

"Is this the end?" Skywatcher asked calmly, the first to speak.

"As long as there are clans around the lake, StarClan will never die!" Bluestar responded angrily, although her anger was not directed at Skywatcher.

"Mm," Yellowfang murmured from the tree trunk. "Endings come in many ways, Bluestar. Just look at those gathered here. Sharpclaw, killed in battle. Oakheart, killed by falling rocks. Mudfur, killed by age. And you, Bluestar, killed by water. Who is to judge what ways endings can and can't come? Certainly not you or I."

"Endings don't have to be bad, either," Littlecloud, ever the optimist, chimed in. "What if whatever is coming ends up being a good thing?"

"When has darkness ever been good?" Onestar hissed. "Do you not remember the Dark Forest? Or my son, Darktail?"

"Of course I remember, Onestar," Littlecloud responded calmly. "But the clans have faced larger threats than an unspecified darkness."

"Whatever this darkness is, we can't just expect it to be good," Echosong mentioned.

Firestar stood and leaped onto the trunk to stand beside Yellowfang, not thinking. He opened his mouth to speak when he heard a comment from below.

"Leave it to Firestar to take the lead in a meeting," Blackstar muttered.

Firestar turned and met Blackstar's annoyed yellow gaze. Without breaking his stare, Firestar said, "I saw the darkness in the water. I heard what it had to say. _Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever._ I've only heard half of the prophecy, but from how it sounds, the threat is far from good, and very, very real."

"And what of the other half?" Barkface asked nobody and everybody.

"We don't know," Yellowfang answered. "And that is what scares us the most."

The group of gathered cats fell into thoughtful silence. Nobody had anything else to say and they began to leave the area without a sound. Finally, Firestar stood alone in the clearing with Yellowfang and an annoyed Sharpclaw. The two ginger toms looked at each other for a moment before Sharpclaw finally spoke his mind.

"I've trusted you with my life in the past, Firestar. Please don't let me down now," he demanded.

With that said, Sharpclaw turned and left Firestar and Yellowfang in the clearing. They were no closer to knowing the meaning of the prophecy's words than they were at the start of the meeting.


	2. Chapter 1

The branches of the trees were stripped of all leaves as the forest endured the harshest leafbare in many, many seasons. The air was cold and brittle, the wind was always blowing, and the snow seemed to never stop falling. Intense cold and deep snow made for a terrible combination.

The lake that sat in the center of the clans' territory was frozen solid. Melted water had been difficult to find in recent moons, and RiverClan's fish supply was down to none. They had taken to hunting prey with legs, but no cat in RiverClan was adept at that. RiverClan's leader, Mistystar, had gotten so desperate that she asked the other clan leaders to send warriors over to train her cats how to hunt the proper prey for the harsh season.

Snappaw was huddled with the other apprentices in their den, trying desperately to get a few winks of sleep before Honeyfur roused him for the dawn patrol. The air was dry and cold, and his nest felt frozen below his golden tabby shape. His littermates, Spotpaw and Flypaw, lied close by in a failed attempt to keep each other warm. He could feel them shivering on either side of him. He was shivering, too.

StarClan, why must it be so cold? he thought helplessly.

His mind wandered to those cats that Bramblestar sent to assist Mistystar and RiverClan. Three of ThunderClan's best hunters had been spared for the good of the starving clan. Ivypool, Fernsong, and Molewhisker had volunteered for the job without hesitation. Snappaw wondered if Ivypool and Fernsong's kits-his denmates-felt abandoned by their parents. Bristlepaw, Thriftpaw, and Flippaw were still quite young, even for apprentices. They had been given mentors only a couple of sunrises before.

The idea behind that had been the fact that ThunderClan needed any spare cats to hunt. Prey was scarce, as most creatures had taken to hiding in their own nests. Snappaw couldn't exactly blame them, either. He certainly didn't want to go wander about the territory in search of skinny prey. But it was a necessity. The clan was large and desperately needed food. Especially with Sparkpelt-ThunderClan's best hunter-in the nursery with Larksong's kits. Shadekit, Puddlekit, Rainkit, and Flamekit had been born too early. When Sparkpelt went into labor, Leafpool, Jayfeather, and Alderheart had all been frantic as they tried to save the young queen and her kits. Alderheart tried harder than either of the others; Sparkpelt was his littermate.

The queen and all four kits survived, but it hadn't been an easy birth. Sparkpelt bled heavily and the kits were small and seemingly malnourished. Snappaw recalled entering the nursery with Sparkpelt's delivery of herbs that would help her milk come. It had been two sunrises after the kits' births, and Snappaw had been surprised to see how small they truly were. He knew kits were small, but he suspected that her's were too small.

Shadekit was the strongest of the young kits. While his littermates were small and sickly, he was energetic and adventurous. Snappaw recalled watching him wander the stone hollow in fascination on the day he opened his eyes for the first time. His littermates' eyes were all still closed, and Sparkpelt had been reluctant to let him out of the nursery without them, but Shadekit was insistent. Larksong watched his son carefully that morning, and Snappaw did what he could to help the young warrior. Larksong was a bit young to be a father, though Sparkpelt was hardly much older.

The older apprentices, Stempaw, Eaglepaw, Plumpaw, and Shellpaw, were long overdue on becoming warriors. But Bramblestar was postponing their warriors assessment until the worst of leafbare was over. He didn't see it as fair that they would be tested under such harsh circumstances. Prey was almost impossible to find, and hunting was a key factor in the assessment. If nothing was caught, then an apprentice couldn't be made a warrior. Snappaw knew that the four older apprentices were becoming anxious, knowing that they should have been made warriors a moon ago, and they likely wouldn't earn their names for another couple of moons.

Snappaw remembered a conversation between Shellpaw and his father, Thornclaw, a few sunrises ago. Shellpaw had been complaining about his postponed assessment, blaming Bramblestar for the bad decision. Thornclaw hadn't been happy about it, but he had understood Bramblestar's choice.

"Back when I was an apprentice, many, many moons ago," Thornclaw began. "Our leader at the time, Bluestar, hadn't allowed the apprentices to receive their names. My sister, Brightheart, and our denmate, Swiftpaw, decided that they should lure a dog pack that had been terrorizing us away. I wanted to join them, but a part of me knew it was stupid. I still shouldn't have let them go. The dog pack killed Swiftpaw, and the scars on Brightheart's face are still there."

"Why does that matter now?" Shellpaw had asked, clearly not seeing the moral of the story.

"They did it because they thought it would make Bluestar see that they were warriors. She still refused to name them honorably. Swiftpaw went to StarClan as an apprentice, and Brightheart was going to die with the disgusting name of Lostface. After Bluestar died, Firestar changed Brightheart's name to what it is now. And he gave me my warrior name, too."

"Are you thinking I would do something that stupid?" his son asked without thinking.

"No. I'm telling you that patience is a virtue. Brightheart did something stupid and nearly got herself killed without a warrior name. I did my duties and served my clan and earned my warrior name without doing anything stupid or otherwise extraordinary. I was patient, and my patience paid off," Thornclaw finished.

Snappaw figured the speech had fallen on deaf ears. Shellpaw had not been any more patient in the past few days. His littermates were clearly getting annoyed with his constant whining about their postponed assessment. Plumpaw had gotten especially annoyed the evening before. Shellpaw was going on his nightly tangent about it when she got fed up with him and swiped her unsheathed claws across his muzzle. She had drawn blood and Shellpaw went straight to the medicine den for treatment. Bramblestar had punished Plumpaw with tick duty. It was a light punishment, as Plumpaw enjoyed listening to Graystripe speak of the old forest.

A bitter wind entered the apprentice's den and Snappaw felt the chill in his bones. Giving up on sleep, he carefully stood up and tread around his sleeping littermates' bodies. He walked out into the hollow and looked up at the sky, expecting to see any form of light. Instead, he saw dark clouds and more snow falling on the already snow-covered ground. His paws sank up to his belly, and he knew that if the snow kept falling, it would quickly be higher than his head.

He made his way through the deep snow to the dirtplace. He was shivering as he moved slowly. His young bones were stiff with cold and discomfort. He pushed through the tunnel and out into the forest beyond to do his business.

When he was finished, he checked in on the warrior on watch. Leafshade was shivering immensely at his post. She paced back and forth, clearly not able to focus on her watch for the bitter cold of the air and the depth of the snow. Snappaw could hear her coughing and feared the worst.

He went straight to the medicine den, where he found Leafpool wide awake while Jayfeather and Alderheart both slept uncomfortably. The eldest medicine cat of ThunderClan was sorting herbs as three shivering figures coughed in their nests. Snappaw frowned, recognizing the disheveled shapes of Birchfall, Daisy, and Ambermoon. The three of them had caught the dreaded greencough from the leafbare weather.

"Snappaw, what do you need?" Leafpool asked frantically. "Is Thriftpaw coughing again?"

Snappaw shook his head, although the medicine cat was too focused on her work to notice. "No, Leafpool, not Thriftpaw. But when I was using the dirtplace, I could hear Leafshade coughing. I don't think standing out in the snow has helped her any."

"For StarClan's sake, she must have caught greencough!" she hissed. "What was Bramblestar thinking, assigning a guard in this weather? What did he think was going to attack us? Giant snowballs?"

She pushed past Snappaw at the exit to go retrieve Leafshade from her guard duty. He moved slightly farther into the den, shielding himself from the wind. The medicine den, while just as cold as the apprentice's, could not afford to have a draft. The slight bit of warmth that came from lack of a breeze made Snappaw smile a bit.

Daisy broke into a loud fit of coughing, taking away any happiness that Snappaw had briefly had. He saw Jayfeather's ears perk up at the sound. His blind blue eyes opened and he stood, licking one paw and wiping it over his eyes. Then he shook himself and walked over to the sickly queen.

As he began to listen to her breathing, he asked, "Did you need something Snappaw, or are you just here to take up unnecessary space?"

For the hundredth time in his life, Snappaw wondered how Jayfeather could detect things so well without sight. He thought he was being as silent as a mouse, but clearly the grouchy medicine cat knew where he was standing.

"I came to fetch Leafpool," Snappaw explained.

"Well, you found her. Go back to sleep," Jayfeather ordered, leaving Daisy's side to search his stores for the correct herb. "But if you do want to be helpful, you could take Alderheart and go find some tansy."

"Honeyfur wanted me on the dawn patrol," Snappaw explained, then added quickly, "But I'll look for it while I'm out and about!"

Jayfeather considered this, then took a yellow flower with dark green stems from his stores. He laid it in front of Snappaw.

"You're not going to find any in this weather, but on the off chance you do, this is what it looks like. Don't mistake it for dandelion," he warned.

Snappaw nodded, forgetting for a moment that Jayfeather couldn't see him. Correcting himself, he said, "Yes, Jayfeather."

Just then, Leafpool returned with Leafshade right behind her. Snappaw noticed that the tired warrior's legs were shaking with the effort of walking. She coughed loudly, spasming like nothing Snappaw had ever seen. She collapsed before she could reach a nest. Leafpool ran to her and Jayfeather helped lay her gently into a premade nest.

"Go, Snappaw, before you catch greencough, too," Leafpool demanded.

He did as he was told, running back out into the bitter cold of the stone hollow. He longed for the warmth of his littermates' fur against his. But just as he was about to re-enter the apprentice's den, he noticed two shapes slipping out of the warrior's den.

He noticed with dismay that the shapes belonged to Honeyfur and Blossomfall, the other members of the dawn patrol. They were ready to go.

"Oh, Snappaw! I was just about to go wake you," Honeyfur announced with a hint of confusion. "How long have you been up?"

"All night," Snappaw answered honestly. "I couldn't sleep with how cold it's been."

Blossomfall shook the snow from her pelt and looked back at Snappaw with a look of annoyance. "Well, get used to it. None of us can sleep in conditions like these!"

"Let's just get the patrol over with," Honeyfur added gently. "Then we can try and get a bit more sleep. Surely exhaustion will give us some rest."

Blossomfall led the way out of camp, with Honeyfur and Snappaw tailing right behind her. All the while, Snappaw thought of Leafshade and the greencough epidemic that was sure to tear ThunderClan to the bone.


	3. Chapter 2

Shadowpaw found himself in front of a thawed out lake surrounded by much warmer air. Pine needles were strewn beneath his paws, giving the ground a kind of springiness to it. He missed the feel of pine needles on the ground. With how much snow had fallen that leafbare, he had almost forgotten the beauty of the grown pine forests. He stepped into the shallows of the lake and let the waves wash his paws of the mud that had gathered in and around his pads.

Shadowpaw closed his eyes and listened to the light breeze in the air. The environment sounded peaceful, especially in comparison to the harsh weather he had left behind in the waking world. Just the thought of the intense cold sent a shiver down his spine. He thought to himself that he would never miss the snow after it inevitably melted away.

Eyes closed, he continued to listen to the sound of the gentle wind. A few moments later, he felt a slight disturbance in the breeze. He opened his eyes and turned to see a small brown tabby tom with light blue eyes and stars in his fur. Shadowpaw smiled at the sight of the familiar young tom.

"Littlecloud," he said softly, reaching forward to touch noses with the former ShadowClan medicine cat.

"Shadowpaw," he responded, accepting the young dark tabby tom's greeting.

Pulling apart, Shadowpaw suddenly noticed the worry in the former medicine cat's eyes. He padded out of the water and sat in front of Littlecloud on the shoreline. He tipped his head to one side and wordlessly asked Littlecloud what he wanted to tell him.

"Life in the clans is about to change drastically, Shadowpaw. This is the last time you will be hearing from any of StarClan for what could end up being a long time," Littlecloud warned.

Shadowpaw's ears perked up in surprise. Not being able to hide his shock, he met the tabby tom's gaze. He saw that Littlecloud was unhappy with what he had to say. His paws were shifting around nervously.

"What is happening, Littlecloud? Why is StarClan abandoning us?" Shadowpaw asked fearfully. "And why are you telling me and not Puddleshine?"

"Every medicine cat is being informed by a different cat. I believe Yellowfang is notifying Puddleshine, if you must know," he answered. "And we aren't abandoning the clans by choice. A darkness is rising, and we are powerless to stop it. Communication will become rather difficult quite quickly. And with the condition of the Moonpool, I fear it may be impossible to reach you again."

"What's wrong with the Moonpool?" Shadowpaw questioned without thinking.

Littlecloud frowned and looked down at the ground. "You will see for yourself at the next half-moon gathering…"

The vision began to fade, and Shadowpaw found himself frantically trying to focus. He didn't want Littlecloud to go. Not yet. He had so many questions for the former medicine cat.

"Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever," Littlecloud finished, his voice fading with the rest of the vision.

"Littlecloud, wait!" Shadowpaw yelled, just as darkness wrapped itself around him.

The apprentice woke with a start, feeling once again as the bitter cold of the waking world chilled him to his core. His eyes were bleary from the restless sleep. His vision was slightly blurred, but he quickly recognized the organization and familiarity of the ShadowClan medicine den.

Shadowpaw heard Puddleshine gasp in his nest, which was adjacent to his own.

"Yellowfang, wait!" he yelled quickly.

Puddleshine's eyes opened immediately, just as wide as Shadowpaw suspected his own were. His young mentor looked around wildly, searching desperately for something that wasn't there. Finally, his gaze found Shadowpaw and he calmed down.

"Did you see it, Shadowpaw?" Puddleshine asked frantically. "The darkness! It stole all the light from the sky… It took Yellowfang away so fast…"

"Littlecloud, too. Did Yellowfang get to tell you…" Puddleshine cut him off.

"Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever," he finished.

"What do you think it means?" he asked his mentor.

Puddleshine rose from his nest and began to pace the medicine den. Shadowpaw saw him shiver from the sudden change in temperature between dream and reality. Shadowpaw rose to join him, too cold to sit in one spot without moving. The two began to pace in inconsistent circles around the den, not having a purpose for it, but too restless and cold to lie back down.

"Nothing good," Puddleshine finally decided. "But Tigerstar will want to hear this first thing."

"Should we wake him now?" he questioned.

"Neither of us are going back to sleep with this cold. We may as well tell Tigerstar what we know now," Puddleshine decided quickly.

Meowing his agreement, Shadowpaw followed his young mentor out of the medicine den. The sudden blast of the wind pierced his heart like a thorn. Pushing through it, Shadowpaw almost found himself slipping into the depth of the snow. Even in the ShadowClan camp, the snow reached just about up to the young apprentice's head. A part of him wanted to ask Puddleshine if he could ride on his back, but held his tongue. To ask such a thing would be embarrassing. Plus, Puddleshine was not much bigger than he. His mentor struggled to maneuver through the ever-deepening snow.

The warriors and their apprentices had been working tirelessly to push the snow into unused sections of the camp. The only thing more important at this point was hunting, and that was becoming more and more difficult the colder it got. When RiverClan asked for assistance, Tigerstar was only willing to spare two warriors for the starving clan. Cloverfoot and Snakefang had been sent to help out, and they had been gone for at least a quarter moon.

The entrance to Tigerstar's den was almost entirely barricaded by the snow. There was just barely enough room for a cat to slip through, and even so, the leader would likely have to dig his way out when Puddleshine and Shadowpaw woke him up.

Puddleshine slipped his way in first, quietly announcing their presence to the sleeping leader and his mate, Dovewing. Shadowpaw entered the den after his mentor, relishing the fact that the snow at the entrance blocked the wind.

Inside the den, Tigerstar and Dovewing both rose to greet Puddleshine and their son. Shadowpaw touched noses with both of his parents before stepping over to the side and curling his tail around his paws. He looked to Puddleshine to take the lead in the meeting.

"Has StarClan sent a message?" Tigerstar asked worriedly.

"Is everything okay?" Dovewing's questioned seemed to be directed at Shadowpaw. He blinked in response, happy that his mother cared enough to ask, but not wanting to speak out of turn.

"Our warrior ancestors have contacted us… as well as the other medicine cats," Puddleshine began. "Yellowfang came to me to warn me of a coming darkness. She said something quite worrisome."

Before Tigerstar or Dovewing could ask what the trouble was, Shadowpaw decided to get straight to the point. He was a patient cat, but he felt that the threat was too high to beat around the bush.

"Littlecloud told me that this will be the last time any medicine cat will be hearing from StarClan for a long time," Shadowpaw finished.

"What?" Dovewing exclaimed in astonishment.

"How can that be?" Tigerstar seconded.

"Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever," Puddleshine said in explanation. "Those were the last words Yellowfang said to me before everything in my dream was engulfed in darkness… before she faded away."

"Great StarClan... " Tigerstar appeared to be lost in thought. His eyes were clouded as he took the information in and attempted to make sense of it. Shadowpaw still couldn't believe what Littlecloud had told him.

"We need to have a meeting with the other clan leaders and medicine cats," Puddleshine suggested. "Maybe together we can all make sense of what StarClan had to tell us."

Dovewing looked at her mate in fear and confusion. She seemed to be debating what to say, but she ultimately decided to keep her opinion to herself. She looked away and met the uncertain gaze of her son. Shadowpaw saw just how deep her fear went. Her blue eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty. He could almost scent the fear wafting off of her.

"Tomorrow at sunhigh," Tigerstar finally said. "We'll meet on the gathering island. Puddleshine, I want you to take Tawnypelt and Dovewing and travel to the RiverClan and WindClan camps to inform them of the meeting. Shadowpaw, please take Slatefur and Blazeheart to the SkyClan and ThunderClan camps. I want the message passed as quickly as possible."

"Father, are you sure you want me to travel so far? The snow is almost higher than my head," Shadowpaw chimed in with concern.

"Shadowpaw, you are a medicine cat. I can't send Puddleshine all the way around the lake, and if I just send warriors, the other clans may think of it as an invasion. You are my only other option," Tigerstar explained calmly. "It has to be you."

Shadowpaw didn't argue any further. Instead, he rose and turned to the exit of the den. Puddleshine, Tigerstar, and Dovewing followed him closely. Carefully, Shadowpaw dug into the snow and wiggled his way out of the den.

The snow began to fall harder than before. The sky was dark with clouds and no sun to back it up. Dawn had not yet come to the lake. Tigerstar jumped up from behind Shadowpaw and ventured into the darkness of the camp, heading towards the warrior's den.

Puddleshine and Dovewing went to the small prey hole that the warriors had dug in the ground. Dovewing pulled out a skinny mouse left over from the night before. It was small, but they shared the prey without complaint. Shadowpaw stumbled over to the hole and looked in. There was one more skinny mouse and a frozen frog. Shadowpaw picked the mouse and settled in a small hole in the snow to hide from the wind.

Slatefur and Blazeheart soon joined him to eat the small morsels of prey that were left. Tawnypelt picked the frozen frog from the prey hole and shared it with her son, Tigerstar. Shadowpaw overheard the ShadowClan leader saying that he would lead a hunting patrol after the two medicine cats and their patrols set out for the other clans.

Shadowpaw noticed that even the usually energetic Blazeheart was drowsy and shivering with cold. The bitter wind seemed to seep all of the energy right out of him. He recalled travelling with the young warrior back when they were both kits. He had been raised by a cat named Spire. Shadowpaw remembered very little about the old cat, but he did remember how good he was to Blazeheart, and how he died saving the life of his littermate, Pouncepaw. He owed Spire a debt that he could never repay, and he hoped that he was well in StarClan with his warrior name of Spiresight.

Blazeheart had earned his warrior name less than a moon ago. Tigerstar had personally trained him to be a ShadowClan warrior. Shadowpaw knew that his father had taken great pride in training the energetic young cat. Blazeheart was among the group of cats that Tigerstar had recovered while he had been searching for Dovewing far away from clan territory. Other loners Antfur and Cinnamontail had joined them in their journey home. Along the way they recovered lost ShadowClan warriors Slatefur, Sparrowtail, and Berryheart. Berryheart and Sparrowtail's kits were born on the journey home, and they were now apprentices under the names of Hollowpaw, Spirepaw, and Sunpaw. Shadowpaw still got along with each of them quite well.

The tiny scraps of prey soon vanished between the ravished bites of Shadowpaw and the two warriors. His stomach still growled with hunger after all the food was gone. Blazeheart and Slatefur looked just as disappointed at the pitiful amount of prey that they had consumed. Despite this, they rose to their paws and looked at Shadowpaw expectantly. Despite being the youngest of them, he was technically the leader of the patrol to SkyClan and ThunderClan territory. His tail twitched at the thought.

Shadowpaw rose and shook the snow from his pelt. He still shivered with cold, but he tried to hide it. He had a message of great importance to deliver to the other clan leaders. The meeting of leaders and medicine cats may be the difference between life and death for the five clans around the lake.

"Blazeheart and I can catch something decent to eat before we cross the border into SkyClan," Slatefur decided. "This isn't a hunting patrol."

Blazeheart and Shadowpaw both mrrowed in agreement. The medicine cat apprentice took the lead and left the ShadowClan camp, twitching his tail as a goodbye to Tigerstar and Tawnypelt as he passed them.

"Be safe," the ShadowClan leader called out to his son.

"Don't worry, Tigerstar. Shadowpaw is safe with us to protect him," Blazeheart called back just as the three of them pushed through the barrier tunnel of the camp.

The snow and the bitter cold felt much worse outside of the ShadowClan camp. The three cats had to huddle together and walk close to each other in order to not freeze their fur off. The wind stole the breath from Shadowpaw's lungs for a brief moment. His teeth were chattering against his will, and he felt Slatefur and Blazeheart tense on either side of him. None of them were used to the intense cold of that leafbare.

The pine trees did little to nothing to protect them from the wind and the falling snow. They trudged together to the SkyClan border, where Slatefur hunted until he caught a curious mouse in a light patch of snow. He allowed Shadowpaw the first bite before he and Blazeheart dug in. It was gone in moments.

They sat at the border wordlessly until a small SkyClan patrol finally showed up. Shadowpaw recognized Rabbitleap, Cherrytail, and her apprentice, Swallowpaw. He dipped his head politely as they got close to the border. Swallowpaw's hackles were raised in alarm.

"Relax, Swallowpaw," Cherrytail said calmly. "Shadowpaw is a medicine cat."

"But why the patrol? Surely Shadowpaw can travel without a couple warriors to help him out," Rabbitleap teased lightly.

Rabbitleap's intentions were good, but Shadowpaw was annoyed that he would even jokingly question his honor. Beside him, Blazeheart took a threatening step forward, landing less than a pawstep away from the border line.

"Shadowpaw doesn't need us to protect him from you," he said with a weak threat. "You wouldn't dare attack a medicine cat, even if he crossed into your territory."

"No, we wouldn't. Which is why I have to wonder why he has two warriors with him," Rabbitleap responded simply.

Slatefur stepped between Blazeheart and the older SkyClan warrior. He touched his tail to Blazeheart's shoulder to get him to step back. Then he looked at Rabbitleap and dipped his head.

"I know things have been tense between our clans since ShadowClan took shelter with you in Tigerstar's absence. But I assure you that our intentions are pure. Shadowpaw has to speak with Leafstar about something urgent. Now, please, let us pass and you will know whenever Leafstar decides that you need to know," Slatefur explained.

Cherrytail padded forward and looked at Rabbitleap. She then said, "They have a medicine cat with them. What's the harm in letting them see Leafstar?"

"What if they attack us on the way back to camp?" Swallowpaw broke in with a threatening hiss.

"I promise that if Slatefur or Blazeheart attacks you, Leafstar can do whatever she wants with me," Shadowpaw said calmly. "We have no ill intentions. Now please, just take us to Leafstar."

Rabbitleap turned away in frustration, but then flicked his tail in invitation. Shadowpaw and his escorts stepped over the border and began to tail the senior SkyClan warrior. Cherrytail and Swallowpaw stuck to the back of the patrol.

"You have to be careful around here," Rabbitleap said after a while. He pointed with his tail to areas where the snow reached up to the lowest branches of the trees. "Some of these snow drifts are deep enough to bury a cat. We nearly lost Bloompaw the other day."

"Thanks for the warning," Slatefur responded.

A bit after sunrise, Rabbitleap led the patrol into the SkyClan camp. As they entered through the tunnel, Shadowpaw felt all eyes on him. Looking around, he noticed how few SkyClan cats were outside of their dens. He recognized Sparrowpelt and Tinycloud outside of the warriors den, but aside from them, he could only see a few shivering apprentices and Hawkwing, the SkyClan deputy, eating prey.

As Cherrytail and Swallowpaw went to the prey pile, Rabbitleap led Shadowpaw and his escorts to Leafstar's den. At the entrance, he turned to face them.

"Just Shadowpaw. I want Slatefur and Blazeheart out here where we can see them," he demanded.

Shadowpaw shrugged, while Blazeheart unsheathed his claws impatiently. Slatefur once again put his tail on the younger warrior's shoulder to calm him. He nodded at Shadowpaw as Rabbitleap allowed him entry to the leader's den.

As soon as he entered the SkyClan leader's den, the strong scent of illness hit him like a stone. He made his way deeper into the den only to find Fidgetstep trying to feed catmint to the sickly SkyClan leader.

"Leafstar, please. You need to recover quickly," he begged unhappily.

"There are other cats who need it more than I do, Fidgetstep. Cats who only have one life to lose," Leafstar muttered impatiently.

Shadowpaw felt as if he had walked in at the wrong time. He tried to back out, but Fidgetstep turned and noticed him. Uncomfortable now, Shadowpaw slowly dipped his head to the medicine cat.

"Leafstar, it appears you have a visitor," Fidgetstep told his leader.

Leafstar lifted her head, and Shadowpaw noticed the crust around her clouded eyes. Without any seeds of doubt, Shadowpaw knew she had caught greencough. He shuffled his paws a bit, then stepped closer to the leader.

"Leafstar, I've come with an important message for you," he began softly.

Leafstar broke into a short bout of coughing. Her throat sounded as if it was raw from too much strain. Shadowpaw was surprised she wasn't coughing up any blood yet. A few moments later, she regained control and took a deep, wheezing breath. She then stubbornly lapped up the catmint that Fidgetstep had provided for her.

"Thank you, Fidgetstep," she muttered politely. "Now, please, leave me and Shadowpaw alone."

Fidgetstep looked as if he was about to protest, but then he thought better of it and dipped his head to his sickly leader. Then he turned and pushed past Shadowpaw and out into the camp.

"Now, Shadowpaw, what is it you have to tell me?" she asked with a weak voice. She was still lying in her nest, which further cemented the fact that she was not okay. A leader always stood during meetings of any kind. The fact that she was too weak to stand, even before a medicine cat apprentice, was a bad sign.

"I don't know if Frecklewish and Fidgetstep have said anything to you yet, but StarClan sent a message of grave importance to all of the medicine cats," Shadowpaw explained.

"Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever," Leafstar said without a second thought. "Yes, I have been informed. What? Do you have more information?"

Shadowpaw shook his head. "No, Leafstar, but Tigerstar has sent me to tell you and Bramblestar that we will be holding a meeting on the gathering island as sunhigh tomorrow. I understand if you won't be there, considering…"

"If I can't be there, Hawkwing will be. I'll make sure Frecklewish or Fidgetstep can be there as well," Leafstar confirmed. "I was thinking of doing something similar, honestly. If it weren't for my… condition, I would have called that meeting myself." She broke into another fit of coughing, and this time Shadowpaw did see droplets of blood flying from her mouth.

"Thank you, Leafstar," Shadowpaw responded gratefully. "And if you need more catmint, StarClan has treated ShadowClan well. No cat has caught greencough yet, and Puddleshine and I have more than we seemingly need right now."

"I'll keep that in mind, Shadowpaw, thank you," she said once she was done coughing. "Now please, let me rest. I need to recover for my clan."

The ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice dipped his head respectfully and turned around to exit the den. As he walked out, he heard Leafstar beginning to cough again.

He padded out of the den and saw Slatefur and Blazeheart speaking with Hawkwing and his daughter, Violetshine. Grateful that Rabbitleap was nowhere to be seen, Shadowpaw went to join them.

"We need to get to ThunderClan before the sun begins to fall," he said without bothering with a greeting.

Hawkwing looked at him with curiosity obvious in his amber gaze. Shadowpaw met it without flinching.

"Is everything well in ShadowClan?" Hawkwing asked.

"That is for Leafstar to inform you if she sees fit," Shadowpaw responded. "Now, please, we need to go now."

Slatefur and Blazeheart joined Shadowpaw, and Violetshine tailed them without bothering with a goodbye to her father. He suspected that she had been sent to assure that they truly went to the ThunderClan border.

Outside of the SkyClan camp, Violetshine took the lead wordlessly. The ShadowClan cats let her do so without protest, though Shadowpaw noticed Blazeheart biting his tongue in annoyance.

At least he knows when to hold his tongue sometimes, Shadowpaw thought humorously.

Violetshine led the ShadowClan cats to the border and then turned to face them. Shadowpaw wondered if she was going to tell them not to hunt on SkyClan's territory or something, but then she began to walk away.

"If you see Twigbranch, tell her hello for me." That was all she said, and that was as she walked away.

Slatefur made the decision not to waste time waiting for a patrol. He once again let Shadowpaw take the lead, and the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice walked onto ThunderClan's land without hesitation. Slatefur and Blazeheart followed closely behind him.

About five foxlengths into the territory, a ThunderClan patrol emerged from the bushes.

Hackles raised, Berrynose jumped forward and landed just in front of Shadowpaw. Expecting a fight, Shadowpaw instinctively unsheathed his claws.

The cream colored tom hissed, "What are you doing here?" Shadowpaw explained the situation again, impatiently now. Sorrelstripe was more reasonable than her companion and allowed them to follow their patrol back to camp. Thriftpaw and Bristlepaw fell in beside Shadowpaw, while Berrynose padded behind Slatefur and Blazeheart.

Shadowpaw prepared his speech in his head while he thought of stories of Bramblestar and his past heroics. He decided that he was proud to call the ThunderClan leader kin, and hoped that he would live up to Shadowpaw's high expectations.


	4. Chapter 3

Shellpaw was sheltering from the wind behind the apprentice's den when the stinking scent of ShadowClan hit his nostrils. The fur on the back of his neck raised in suspicion as he quickly stood and rounded the outside of the den. He looked out from his spot in the shadows and saw Sorrelstripe leading her patrol back into camp. Behind her, Shellpaw recognized his denmates Bristlepaw and Thriftpaw, as well as the ShadowClan medicine cat, Shadowpaw. Behind them, ShadowClan warriors Slatefur and Blazeheart walked with Berrynose tailing them closely.

The ThunderClan camp seemed to be mostly deserted, as most cats were sheltering in their dens or patrolling. Then there were the sick cats to think about. Birchfall, Daisy, Ambermoon, and Leafshade could not defend themselves or the camp in their condition. Aside from Shellpaw himself, the only other cats in the hollow were Squirrelflight, Whitewing, Hollytuft, and Flypaw.

Shellpaw moved out from behind the apprentice's den and showed himself to the incoming patrol. He let the suspicion enter his gaze and he looked the patrol over as if he were expecting an attack.

Squirrelflight rose from her meal and strode over to meet Sorrelstripe's patrol, her tail raised high. Her sharp green gaze revealed nothing of how she would respond to the ShadowClan cats.

"Sorrelstripe, can you please tell me why you have three ShadowClan cats with you?" the ThunderClan deputy asked the warrior in the lead.

Sorrelstripe dipped her head to the deputy and responded. "Shadowpaw claims that he has to speak with Bramblestar."

"Is he here?" Shadowpaw added without waiting for Squirrelflight's response.

"Bramblestar is actually out with a hunting party at the moment, but he should be back soon. I would offer you fresh kill if ThunderClan had any to spare, but I'm sure the weather has kept prey hiding in their holes in ShadowClan territory as well," the deputy stated.

"Thank you for the consideration, Squirrelflight. Do you mind if we wait for Bramblestar to return?" Shadowpaw questioned politely.

"By all means," Squirrelflight invited.

Shellpaw took that moment to take several big, threatening strides towards the ShadowClan cats. Whitewing and Hollytuft looked as if they were about to try and stop him, but the older apprentice stormed past them. He marched right up to Slatefur and unsheathed his claws.

"Squirrelflight, you can't be serious!" he protested from right beside the older ShadowClan warrior. "Shadowpaw might be a medicine cat, but these two are warriors of a rival clan! We can't let them stay here!"

"Shellpaw, stop this at once!" Squirrelflight demanded sternly. "Sheathe your claws and get over here. Now!"

Shellpaw instantly turned and stared down his deputy. How could his deputy be such a mouse-brain? These were enemy warriors they were talking about! They had sick cats in camp. Most of their warriors were out in hunting parties.

Regardless, Shellpaw knew when a battle was lost. He lashed his tail once, twice, and then marched over to Squirrelflight. He sheathed his claws. Then she bat him around the ear. He suspected he would be punished further before the day was through.

"You must excuse Shellpaw," Squirrelflight said to the ShadowClan cats apologetically. "He's been getting a bit restless about his postponed warriors assessment, and he has a tendency to take it out on undeserving cats."

Slatefur met the ThunderClan deputy's gaze and then glanced at Shellpaw. The apprentice lashed his tail again and bared his teeth. Then Slatefur turned back to Squirrelflight and said, "That one is undeserving of a warrior name until he has learned some respect."

"I'll show you respect!" Shellpaw yelled, unsheathing his claws once more.

This time, Whitewing and Hollytuft managed to hold Shellpaw back before he leapt at the arrogant ShadowClan tom. Hollytuft hissed in his ear that he needed to stop acting out. Shellpaw spat at her and tried to tear himself away from the two she-cats.

"That's enough!" Squirrelflight screeched.

Shellpaw didn't stop. He tore himself away from his senior warriors and rushed at Slatefur. The older warrior stepped to the side to dodge Shellpaw's attack. Then, once Shellpaw had landed, he raked his claws down the determined apprentice's flank. Shellpaw grimaced and turned, slashing at Slatefur's nose. This time, his blow landed and red, hot blood splashed on the ground as Shellpaw's claws ripped into Slatefur's flesh.

"Shellpaw, stop!" Flypaw yelled from her position behind Hollytuft and Whitewing, who stood protecting the younger apprentice, likely without knowing they were doing so.

Berrynose stepped into the fray and tried to step in and snatch Shellpaw away, but the apprentice rolled across the ground. Then he did a quick spin to get himself behind Slatefur. He leaped up and landed on the ShadowClan warrior's back. Slatefur tried to shake him off, but Shellpaw dug his claws into the warrior's back.

Blazeheart and Shadowpaw looked at the fight in utter shock. Shadowpaw looked at Blazeheart and seemed to silently ask him to help Slatefur. Hesitantly, Blazeheart nodded and jumped into the fight.

Shellpaw hissed and bit into the back of Slatefur's neck. He tried biting down as hard as he could, but then he felt teeth sink into his tail and he felt himself get pulled off of the ShadowClan warrior.

"I said, that's enough!" Squirrelflight yelled with a mouthful of Shellpaw's tail.

Shellpaw tried to struggled away from the deputy, but now Sorrelstripe and Berrynose helped to hold him down. With the strength of three warriors pinning him to the ground, Shellpaw went limp in defeat. His heart was beating intensely against his chest. Red hot fury rose in his throat like bile.

"What's going on here!?" Bramblestar's voice boomed from the entrance to the stone hollow.

The ThunderClan leader strode into camp, unable to hide his own anger in the process. Behind him, Mousewhisker, Rosepetal, Plumpaw, and Stempaw entered the camp, each with small pieces of prey in their jaws. All four of the incoming cats looked at the scene in front of them with confusion.

Slatefur shook droplets of blood out of his fur before turning to meet the ThunderClan leader's angry gaze.

"Blazeheart and I accompanied Shadowpaw to your camp so that he could deliver a message to you personally, Bramblestar," Slatefur explained. "Squirrelflight nicely allowed us to stay and await your arrival, but this apprentice-" he stopped and gestured with his tail to Shellpaw, who was still pinned to the ground. "-attacked me without reason or provocation."

Bramblestar turned to his deputy. "Is this true?"

Squirrelflight nodded in response, her anger clear just in her posture.

"Squirrelflight, please deal with Shellpaw accordingly," Bramblestar ordered. Then he turned to the ShadowClan patrol. "I apologize for Shellpaw's behavior. Rest assured, he will be punished severely. Now, please come to my den and share with me what you have to say. Slatefur, if you would like, our medicine cats would be happy to treat your wounds."

The ShadowClan cats followed Bramblestar, grateful to be away from Shellpaw.

Meanwhile, Shellpaw once again began to struggle beneath his clanmates' paws. At last, they let him go and he launched himself up. He strode up to Berrynose, his fur standing on end.

"Why in StarClan's name did you stop me? I was winning!" Shellpaw hissed furiously.

Berrynose stood nose to nose with the arrogant apprentice, but for once, he held his tongue. Instead, Squirrelflight pulled Shellpaw aside and began shoving him towards the thorn tunnel. Shellpaw reluctantly moved in that direction and left camp with the deputy right behind him.

Squirrelflight marched Shellpaw through the snow and deep into the forest, away from the hunting patrols that she and Bramblestar had sent out that morning. When they were sheltered away and she knew they could no longer be heard, she put her tail on Shellpaw's shoulder to stop him.

"Shellpaw, what has gotten into you?" Squirrelflight demanded. "You used to be so respectful!"

Shellpaw looked down at his paws, still feeling the anger boiling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't even really know who he was angry at. Bramblestar? Squirrelflight? Slatefur?

"I should be a warrior by now, and you know it, Squirrelflight," he muttered.

"Not with what you just did. I ought to tell Bramblestar to hold off on your warrior ceremony until after Sparkpelt's kits become warriors!" she responded, only half joking.

"No!" Shellpaw protested. "You wouldn't! You know I'm ready for this!"

"Clearly, you're not. Maybe if you prove that you can behave like a warrior, Bramblestar will give you your name. Until then, you can expect your littermates to earn their names long before you do," Squirrelflight said, glancing away as she finished her sentence. She wasn't lying, and a part of her felt bad for saying such things. She had never had to punish an apprentice as severely as she knew she had to punish Shellpaw.

"Squirrelflight, be reasonable!" Shellpaw argued.

"I am being reasonable, Shellpaw! You were warned several times, but you still attacked cats that I allowed into the camp. You directly disobeyed orders! For StarClan's sake, they had a medicine cat apprentice with them! They weren't hurting anyone!" she yelled, clearly exasperated.

"If I were a warrior, this wouldn't be a problem!" Shellpaw complained.

"If you were a warrior, you would act just as immature as you do now! I'm sorry, Shellpaw, but you did this to yourself. You won't be receiving your warrior name until you learn some respect for your senior warriors. And even then, I will be telling Bramblestar to postpone your ceremony for a long time. Whenever your littermates become warriors, you will be watching them from the sidelines," Squirrelflight decided. Then, she turned and stalked away from the stubborn apprentice.

"You can't do that!" Shellpaw yelled.

He began to run after his deputy, but she had longer legs than he did and easily got away. He slipped in the snow and fell face-first into a large pile of snow. He sunk into it a bit until he looked like a flailing fish as he struggled for a way out. Finally, he regained his composure and stood, shaking with a mixture of fury and cold.

I'll show you what a warrior can do, he thought bitterly.

Shellpaw turned in the opposite direction of the ThunderClan camp and began to run again.


	5. Chapter 4

Snappaw sat outside of the apprentices' den the morning after the visit from the ShadowClan cats. He sat with his littermates, Spotpaw and Flypaw, on either side of him. Together, they shared a skinny rabbit that Thriftpaw had managed to catch during the dawn hunting patrol. Snappaw thanked StarClan for the meal and had made sure to thank Thriftpaw personally for the meal. A part of him was proud of the younger apprentice. Catching a rabbit in weather like what they were dealing with was far from easy.

Still, worry wormed around in Snappaw's belly. Shellpaw still hadn't returned from when he had run away the day before. Snappaw couldn't imagine spending a night alone in the freezing cold of the forest. Bramblestar had sent out a search party the night before, but the snow had washed any scent of him away. Nobody had found any trace of him.

Blossomfall and Thornclaw were worried sick. Shellpaw's littermates, Stempaw, Eaglepaw, and Plumpaw had been given the day off from training in order to search for their brother. Blossomfall and Thornclaw each led a search party at dawn to find their son. Snappaw's mentor, Honeyfur, had joined Blossomfall's patrol. The patrol was still out, and with the two of them were Bumblestripe and Eaglepaw. Cloudtail, Stormcloud, Plumpaw, and Stempaw were out with Thornclaw.

Snappaw hadn't been in camp when Shellpaw had his outburst, but from what the warriors told him, it had been bad. He had attacked Slatefur after Squirrelflight had allowed him and his companions to stay in the camp until Shadowpaw could deliver his message to Bramblestar. Blood had been drawn by both cats involved. Afterward, Squirrelflight had taken him out for a scolding, but he had not returned with her.

Shadowpaw delivered his message to Bramblestar without further interruption. Snappaw had no idea what the message was, but he did know that Bramblestar had left camp that morning with Alderheart by his side. Whispers around camp caused him to believe that the leader and medicine cat were headed to the gathering island.

"I'm glad he's gone," Flypaw said suddenly, breaking Snappaw from his thoughts.

"What?" Snappaw turned to his sister. "Who?"

"Shellpaw. He was getting to be such a pain in the tail," she responded bitterly. "And you didn't see him yesterday. I did. He was going to kill Slatefur. He would have if Squirrelflight hadn't pulled him off of Slatefur's back!"

"But warriors don't kill!" Spotpaw protested, her yellow eyes wide with shock.

"Shellpaw was behaving more like a rogue than a warrior yesterday," Flypaw added darkly.

Snappaw shook his head slightly. He couldn't believe his denmate had behaved in that way. He thought back to when they were kits in the nursery. Shellpaw had been so carefree as a kit. He laughed and played all the games that kits came up with just like anyone else. Even in his early apprenticeship, Shellpaw had been a respectable cat. He learned quickly. But something had changed in him somewhere along the way. It was like something within him had snapped, and the cat that he had once been disappeared forever, leaving someone else entirely in his place.

"Do you think he will come back?" Spotpaw asked her sister.

"If he does, he better have calmed down," Flypaw answered angrily.

With their conversation over, the littermates finished their rabbit in peace. Snappaw smacked his lips happily as he relished the last flavors of the prey. He licked the blood from his teeth and closed his eyes. He laid down in the snow and rested his head on his paws. Spotpaw and Flypaw joined him, curling themselves around him for warmth. There was no wind today, though the cold was just as bitter.

No sooner had they closed their eyes than Eaglepaw had burst through the thorn tunnel, her fur standing on end.

"We found blood!" she screeched, the fear in her voice clear.

Snappaw opened his eyes immediately. Pushing himself up from between his littermates, he ran towards the older apprentice. Her legs were shaking and she nearly collapsed into him when he got next to her. He let her lean on his shoulder to recover her breath. She had clearly run far.

The warriors that were in camp all looked up. Brackenfur ran forward from his place below the Highledge with Squirrelflight and Cherryfall. The senior warrior came to Eaglepaw's other side and supported her from there. Squirrelflight and Cherryfall came right behind him.

"Could you scent whose blood it was?" Squirrelflight asked instantly.

"Cat's…" Eaglepaw gasped.

"ThunderClan?" Cherryfall added.

Eaglepaw's only response was a tired shrug. She didn't know, and she was too tired to answer any further questions. Suddenly, her legs began to shake and she began to cough violently. Brackenfur and Snappaw lowered her to the ground, where she continued her spasmous coughing.

"Somebody get Jayfeather!" Brackenfur demanded.

Cherryfall nodded and ran to the medicine den.

Squirrelflight lowered herself to Eaglepaw's level. The apprentice continued to cough for several seconds before weakly meeting the ThunderClan deputy's sharp green gaze.

"Can you tell me where you found the blood?" the deputy asked her calmly.

Eaglepaw let out another weak cough, then managed to rasp, "WindClan." Another cough broke her phrase, then she added, "Border."

Squirrelflight stood and ran to the thorn tunnel. She looked back and shouted, "Brackenfur, watch the camp! Snappaw, Flypaw, and Spotpaw, you're with me!"

Snappaw immediately wondered why she was asking three apprentices to join her, but then he remembered that Brackenfur and Cherryfall were the only healthy warriors still in camp. Everybody else was out hunting, patrolling, or searching.

He looked back at Eaglepaw's weak shape on the ground. Cherryfall was running to her with Jayfeather on her tail, a bundle of herbs in his jaws. Satisfied that she would be okay without him, Snappaw followed Squirrelflight out of the camp. Flypaw and Spotpaw tailed him closely.

Squirrelflight led the three apprentices expertly through the snow-filled forest. She was larger than Snappaw and his littermates, but she was careful to leave pawprints in the snow for them to follow without them getting trapped in its depths. Snappaw admired her for her courage and her willingness to help anyone at any given time. Even Shellpaw, who didn't necessarily deserve help after yesterday's outburst. Snappaw didn't know if he would be willing to help him if his and Squirrelflight's roles were switched.

Soon, Snappaw could smell a strong ThunderClan scent. Squirrelflight was leading them right to one of the patrols that she had sent out that morning.

The ThunderClan deputy followed the pawprints of that morning's border patrol. They followed the prints until they reached their owners. Across a frozen stream, Lionblaze stood with Poppyfrost, Dewnose, and Twigbranch. Snappaw lifted his head and met his father's gaze as soon as they met.

"Lionblaze, follow me to the WindClan border!" the ThunderClan deputy yelled to her clanmate.

Lionblaze motioned his tail for his patrol to follow Squirrelflight. Together with the warriors, Snappaw and his littermates followed Squirrelflight as she led them to the WindClan border.

At sunhigh, the patrol found Blossomfall, Bumblestripe, and Honeyfur all pacing anxiously around a spot of crimson in the white snow. Blossomfall looked at the ThunderClan deputy with intense worry in her eyes. Snappaw sympathized with her.

"Are there any other scents around the blood?" Squirrelflight questioned.

"If there is, the snow is covering it up," Bumblestripe replied quickly.

Lionblaze pushed through the crowd of cats and sniffed the blood. It was a spot about as large as a maple leaf, and that scared Snappaw more than anything. It was a large spot of blood, but there were no trails leading away from it.

"ThunderClan, definitely," Lionblaze confirmed, lifting his nose from the ground.

"Does the scent go into WindClan territory?" Dewnose asked the cats from Blossomfall's patrol.

"The scent doesn't go anywhere. It's just in that one spot!" Blossomfall responded impatiently.

"Should we speak with Harestar?" Flypaw asked timidly.

Squirrelflight looked back at the apprentice and said, "If Harestar had found Shellpaw, he would have sent for us. Especially if he was injured."

"Not necessarily, if he had a meeting on the gathering island to worry about…" Twigbranch corrected the deputy.

"We have to speak to Harestar!" Blossomfall yelled. "Squirrelflight, what if it was one of your kits we were searching for?"

Squirrelflight looked down at the bloodstained snow. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent once. She seemed to consider things, until she came to a decision.

Just as she was about to speak, a twig snapped behind Snappaw.

Instinctively, he turned quickly. As soon as he turned, Snappaw found himself face to face with the biggest fox he had ever seen. It snarled and lunged at him. Shrieking, the apprentice jumped back in fear, just barely avoiding its large jaws.

"Fox dung!" Lionblaze shouted. "Snappaw!"

The fox went for Spotpaw next, but now Snappaw was ready. Just as the fox was about to clamp down on his sister's leg, Snappaw launched himself onto its back. He tore at its red fur and drew a bit of blood.

Bumblestripe and Dewnose went left, Lionblaze and Twigbranch right. Squirrelflight and Blossomfall ran at the fox head on, slashing at its muzzle angrily. Honeyfur jumped up and scratched its side, while Flypaw ran and slid beneath the fox's belly, slicing along its stomach as she went.

The fox yelped in pain, but anger returned to its eyes. It snapped at Squirrelflight, who jumped back quickly. Spotpaw got out from beneath the fox and ran to its tail, where Flypaw just slid out from under the fox. Snappaw's sisters each bit into its tail and pulled, angering it even further.

On top of the fox, Snappaw felt adrenaline filling his veins. He bit down fiercely on the back of the fox's neck, feeling for the bone that he wanted to snap between his teeth. The fox's skin was stronger than a cat's, however, and it protected its bones better. The fox shook itself angrily, barely managing to dislodge Snappaw from its back.

He fell to the ground with a loud thump. He felt the wind get knocked from his chest as he hit the snow-covered forest floor. Winded, he watched his clanmates fight the fox. They appeared to be winning, as so many warriors clearly outmatched the wild creature.

Still without breath, Snappaw couldn't shout for help when the second fox launched itself out of the bushes and onto Snappaw.

His eyes widened with surprise that was quickly replaced by pure terror as the second fox landed on top of him. Its large paws slammed down on his chest, ripping whatever air he had left in his lungs right out. He tried to shout as its jaws sank into the top of his head. Blinded by pain, he weakly pushed against the fox's massive body, to no avail.

Snappaw was barely conscious when he heard his father yell his name. He could feel blood oozing from his skull as the fox continued to mutilate him. He fought with every ounce of strength that he had left, but soon found that he could feel nothing. There was nothing but blood and pain when he finally felt the weight lifted from his body.

He lost consciousness as he heard the panicked screaming around him.

…

"No, it's not his time yet," a voice whispered from the forest.

"Quick! We don't have much time!" another ordered.

"The darkness is coming! Get him out of here before there's nothing left!" a third added.

Snappaw briefly opened his eyes, dimly aware of the figures in front of him. The light blurred his sight, but he saw a quick flash of ginger fur before his eyes shut again.

"You'll be okay, Snappaw. Go home," the final voice said calmly.

Snappaw felt weightless as he began to fall through the air. He was aware of the wind rushing around him as he fell from a height unknown to him.

…

Suddenly, Snappaw felt a pressure beneath him. He quickly regained consciousness and gasped in a huge breath of air. He lifted his head from his nest and tried to open his eyes. Instantly, there was pain and darkness. He felt something wrapped around his head, and he realized that his eyes were covered.

Around him, Snappaw heard the distinct sounds of coughing. He recognized the bitter scent of sickness and he gagged against it. He lowered his head once more and pressed his nose into his nest.

He heard pawsteps padding towards him. He didn't lift his head, as he knew that even if he did, he could not see who was coming.

"Snappaw, are you awake?" he recognized Leafpool's soft voice. She sounded off. Almost… defeated.

Snappaw lifted his head from his nest again and turned to face the direction that he believed her voice to come from. He tried to open his eyes again, but once again could not.

"We need to change your poultice," she whispered gently.

Snappaw nodded weakly and then felt the pressure around his head lifting. Leafpool carefully unwrapped the cobwebs that held the poultice to his injured head. He winced as she pulled the last of it from his face. He could feel the skin and the blood going with it.

Snappaw tried to ask how bad it was, but found that he could not speak. His throat was dry and felt dusty. He wondered how long he had been out.

He quickly realized that even with the dressings from his head removed, he still could not see. He tried to open his eyes, but found that he couldn't. His heart began to beat faster and faster as realization hit him like a stone.

I'm blind, he thought fearfully.

"I'm so sorry, Snappaw," Leafpool said to him.

He began to shake with fear at the thought of never seeing again. He shrank away from the medicine cat's touch as she began to redress his wounds.

"We have to put on another dressing if we want to save what you have left," she mentioned carefully.

Reluctantly, Snappaw lowered his head and allowed Leafpool to work her magic. He felt her tongue smearing something over his face and head and it smelled awful. He gagged, but allowed her to continue. When she was done licking, she once again wrapped his head in cobwebs.

"At least we can save your life, if not your sight," Leafpool mentioned, although she sounded like she was trying to convince herself just as much as Snappaw.

He heard a cat begin to enter another bout of coughing. Leafpool's attention turned to that cat, and Snappaw was left alone.

"Graystripe and Millie have started the burial," another voice, Jayfeather's, said as they entered the den.

Burial? Snappaw wondered worriedly.

Snappaw turned to the blind medicine cat, silently begging the grouchy medicine cat to tell him who had died. He noted that even Jayfeather's voice sounded tight with grief.

"Who…?" Snappaw tried to ask, but his voice was too dry to speak.

He felt wet moss below his chin, and he lapped at it gratefully. After he quenched a bit of his thirst, he adjusted his head so that he was looking up at the cat who had given him the water.

"Who died?" he asked weakly.

Snappaw felt a tail gently touch his shoulder, and he feared the worst. Immediately, his mind made him believe that Lionblaze, Spotpaw, and Flypaw were all dead. All of them had been killed by the fox. He was the only survivor…

He heard Leafpool choke back a sob, further cementing his belief. Lionblaze was her son, and Jayfeather's brother. No…

"Squirrelflight was killed saving you," Jayfeather finally confirmed to him.

Snappaw felt his chest tighten with grief and guilt. He lowered his head again and rested it on the edge of his nest. He felt that he would cry if he was able.

"How?" he added.

"She and Lionblaze got to you as soon as they could… Lionblaze says that he tried to distract the fox while Squirrelflight tried to get you out from under it. They succeeded, but when you were freed, it was because it lunged at Squirrelflight. It caught her neck in its jaws... " Jayfeather couldn't quite finish the tale. Snappaw couldn't blame him.

"I'm not worth her life…" Snappaw whispered half to himself.

"She knew what she was sacrificing," Leafpool replied sadly. "And the others managed to drive the foxes away before anybody else got hurt."

"What about Shellpaw?"

"Still no sign of him," she answered.

A heavy silence filled the medicine den as Snappaw took everything in. Squirrelflight was dead. He was injured beyond what his mind could comprehend. Shellpaw was nowhere to be found. Leafbare was still raging, and greencough still controlled ThunderClan. What hope was there?

A new question rose in Snappaw's mind. Without raising his head again, he asked, "Did Bramblestar appoint a new deputy?"

"He chose Ivypool… she came back from RiverClan when we sent word to her and her patrol," Leafpool responded. "They returned this morning, right before Squirrelflight's vigil ended."

Snappaw accepted the answer and returned to silence. He listened as the two medicine cats worked on helping the sick cats. A new set of paws soon joined them, and Snappaw listened as Alderheart began calming the cats who were still waiting for their herbs.

Snappaw allowed his mind to take over, and he soon found himself succumbing to sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

Shadowpaw walked calmly behind his father, Tigerstar, and his mentor, Puddleshine, as they travelled slowly to the gathering island for the meeting between leaders and medicine cats of all clans. Tigerstar's ears were pricked and his neck fur was bristling slightly, still angry about what had happened the day before in the ThunderClan camp. Slatefur had been wrongfully attacked by a fierce ThunderClan apprentice whose name Shadowpaw couldn't remember. His wounds were minor, but Puddleshine had still kept him in the medicine den for the night, just to be sure. He had been back to normal when Shadowpaw woke up this morning, and he sent the warrior on his way.

Tigerstar was ready to talk to Bramblestar about what had gone down. Considering the ThunderClan leader was his kin, Tigerstar knew he had to be reasonable. A clan leader could not control every apprentice, but respect was something that all apprentices learned early on in their apprenticeships. At least in ShadowClan, that's how it worked.

One by one, the three ShadowClan cats walked across the tree bridge to the gathering island. It was not quite sunhigh, but since they had been the ones to call the meeting, they all figured they should be the earliest arrivals. Shadowpaw was eager to hear what the other clan cats had to say about the prophecy.

Tigerstar led them to the gathering tree, where he leaped up into one of its higher branches. Shadowpaw sat with his tail wrapped around his paws at the base of the tree, Puddleshine directly to his right. They waited patiently as the sun continued its slow journey across the sky.

Harestar and Kestrelflight were the first cats to arrive. Behind Kestrelflight, his new apprentice, Lilacpaw, strode along with uncertainty in her step. Shadowpaw had only met her once so far, at the last half-moon gathering. He hadn't attended the last full gathering, so he had not gotten the chance to speak with her then. She was a pretty brown tabby she-cat with sky blue eyes. Her belly and the tip of her tail were white.

Harestar and Tigerstar greeted each other respectfully before the WindClan leader jumped up into the tree, taking a branch lower than Tigerstar. He sat calmly with his tail hanging limply in front of the branch he perched on.

Kestrelflight and Lilacpaw joined Puddleshine and Shadowpaw at the base of the tree. Puddleshine and Kestrelflight greeted each other as old friends, while Shadowpaw was left to stumble his way through greeting Lilacpaw.

"It's good to see you, Lilacpaw," he greeted. "Are you enjoying your apprenticeship?"

She flicked her tail irritably. "Yes, but we have sick cats in camp. I shouldn't be here. Kestrelflight said this might be more important…"

"That doesn't sound like Kestrelflight to me," Shadowpaw commented.

Lilacpaw shook her head and added, "Nobody has caught greencough, thank StarClan. But whitecough is going around, and if it's left untreated, it could get worse. Yet, here we are."

"You'll be back before too long. This meeting should be fairly brief, if all goes as planned," Shadowpaw replied calmly.

"You better be right," she concluded.

Bramblestar entered the clearing with Alderheart close behind him. The ThunderClan leader strode straight to the oak tree and leapt into it. He stood on a branch close to Tigerstar's, but above Harestar's. Shadowpaw could feel the tension between the two leaders, while Harestar appeared to be blissfully unaware of the lightning crackling between Tigerstar and Bramblestar.

Shadowpaw was surprised to see Leafstar walk into the clearing next, closely followed by Frecklewish. There was no sign of Fidgetstep, and Shadowpaw assumed that he had stayed behind to treat the SkyClan cats who had caught greencough. However, Leafstar had been bed-ridden just the day before. Now she looked healthier than any cat on the island.

She lost a life, Shadowpaw realized inwardly. He chose to keep the information to himself.

Leafstar caught Shadowpaw's eye. The two of them seemed to have a conversation in the brief moment that they saw each other. She was warning him not to say anything. Shadowpaw gave the slightest of nods, telling her that he would never tell a soul. Leafstar smiled for a moment in response, before jumping up to a branch next to Harestar.

Alderheart and Frecklewish spoke for a few moments before sitting with the other medicine cats. Shadowpaw caught a bit of what they were saying, and they were clearly discussing the separate greencough outbreaks between ThunderClan and SkyClan. Shadowpaw thanked StarClan that the sickness had not yet touched his clan.

The last cat to enter the clearing was Willowshine. She padded in with her head low and her usual energy depleted. She seemed to be completely defeated, and Shadowpaw didn't have to wonder why. She came alone. Mistystar was too weak to leave camp.

Willowshine paused before she joined the other medicine cats at the base of the tree. She looked up at the leaders in the oak tree and took a deep breath.

"Mistystar sent me to thank each of you for what your clans have done for us. Your patrols have been very helpful to us, but unfortunately… they haven't been enough. RiverClan is still starving. To make matter worse, sickness has plagued our clan," Willowshine said this, then hesitated. She didn't want to continue, but she did. "Mistystar and Reedwhisker are weak. Podlight and Mosspelt are dead. Both of Lakeheart's kits are sick. If we don't do something soon… I'm afraid for RiverClan."

Leafstar looked down at Willowshine, sympathy shining in her gaze. "I would love to send more warriors to assist RiverClan, but sickness has affected SkyClan as well. No cats have died, thankfully, but enough of us are sick. I have no cats to spare."

"Neither does ThunderClan," Bramblestar echoed. "I thought Ivypool, Fernsong, and Molewhisker would be more than enough. Now, we might even need them back soon."

Harestar and Tigerstar exchanged a glance. Tigerstar shrugged, clearly not having an answer.

Harestar sighed. "WindClan has been spared this season. If needed, I can spare a couple more warriors. But we need to survive as well, and WindClan is our first priority."

Willowshine dipped her head. "Thank you for your generosity, Harestar."

"We should discuss what we came here to discuss," Bramblestar intervened, looking around worriedly, as if he expected an attack. "I shouldn't be away from ThunderClan for too long."

"Let us keep our claws sheathed this time, shall we, Bramblestar?" Tigerstar teased light-heartedly, though Shadowpaw could detect a hidden threat in his father's words.

"Yes, claws will remain sheathed for this meeting," the ThunderClan leader responded, a layered threat in his words, as well.

"Then we're ready to talk about the prophecy?" Shadowpaw asked impatiently.

The four present clan leaders agreed to begin the discussion. The medicine cats gathered around the base of the oak tree, facing their leaders and each other. The leaders in the tree looked down at their medicine cats with curiosity and speculation clear in their gazes.

"Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever," Puddleshine began. "What do we think that means?"

"Something is coming," Frecklewish said simply. "Something powerful..."

"Something powerful enough to overpower StarClan itself," Lilacpaw finished.

The medicine cats and leaders turned to face the WindClan medicine cat apprentice. The thought of StarClan being defeated had not crossed any of their minds. They thought of that leafbare as the darkness they had to face. The light in the sky was blocked by clouds most days. It made sense, but Shadowpaw knew that was too simple. Lilacpaw was moving in the right direction.

"The light refers to the stars in the sky. The only question is, what is the darkness?" Shadowpaw explained.

"Is the Dark Forest returning?" Willowshine asked anyone and everyone.

Bramblestar, Tigerstar, and Harestar all exchanged an uneasy glance. Tigerstar and Harestar had both once trained in the Dark Forest, but they had chosen to fight on the side of the clans when the Great Battle came to light. Now, they both led their respective clans, and they had earned the utmost respect of their clanmates. Bramblestar's father, the first Tigerstar, had been one of the leaders of the Dark Forest before the battle, when he was finally struck down by Firestar. Shadowpaw knew the story of the Great Battle well. Dovewing had told it to him when he was a kit.

"That's not possible," Bramblestar concluded. "We killed most of their ranks when the Great Battle came. Tigerstar, Hawkfrost, Mapleshade… the cats that got away wouldn't be strong enough on their own."

"Unless they're recruiting again," Tigerstar added darkly.

"Nobody would be foolish enough to fall for their tricks," Lilacpaw said confidently.

Harestar and Tigerstar both gave her a slight glare, causing her to shrink back and add, "Sorry, I forgot."

"The cats in the Dark Forest are there for a reason," Harestar stated. "In life, they were cunning. They were manipulative. Above all, they were evil. If they are coming back, then we should be ready. We may have killed many of them in the battle, but some got away. Thistleclaw and Snowtuft, among others. No matter how weak they may be, I think they will always pose a threat."

"But they aren't strong enough to take down StarClan," Kestrelflight argued.

Alderheart, having yet to speak, turned to face the leaders in the tree. He looked at Bramblestar, Tigerstar, and Harestar individually, knowing that Leafstar had not been present for the Great Battle, as it was before SkyClan's time around the lake.

Finally, Alderheart spoke. "I wasn't alive for the Great Battle. I wasn't alive to see the immediate aftermath of the battle. From what I understand, though, is that cats who have died are capable of dying again. You say cats like Tigerstar and Hawkfrost were killed, and they faded away. But… where do they go after they've faded away?"

Shadowpaw turned now to face the leaders. The question was a good one. His young mind hadn't thought of it, personally. Alderheart was wise for his age, though. Shadowpaw looked up to him. He was proud to call him kin, however distantly.

It was Bramblestar who answered him. "We don't know the answer to that. My best guess is… those cats are just gone forever. No second chances."

"And what of StarClan cats?" Shadowpaw asked curiously. "Do they fade, too?"

"Yes, they do," Bramblestar answered. "Spottedleaf is the only StarClan cat that I know faded in that battle."

Leafstar finally decided to speak. "How much of a threat do these Dark Forest cats pose?"

"Enough for us to be ready for them," Tigerstar responded. "But not enough for us to distract ourselves from our clanmates in need. The sick and starving cats have to come first."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with that. Our clanmates need us to be attentive to them," Bramblestar agreed.

"Then what are we going to do about the prophecy?" Shadowpaw questioned.

"For now, it appears we can't do anything," Leafstar answered him.

"Our clanmates have to come first," Harestar accepted.

Shadowpaw turned away from the group of meeting cats. Ears flat against his head, he padded away from the group. He sat down next to a bush in order to think without being disturbed. He felt the eyes of everybody else on his back, but he ignored them. His mind was processing everything. Yet, something felt off… like there was something in the back of his mind that needed to reveal itself.

Shadowpaw closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. He perked his ears up and listened carefully to the world around him. Faintly, he thought he heard the muffled sounds of fighting cats. And the barking of a fox.

He opened his eyes with a gasp, seeing something that certainly was not in front of him.

He saw a ThunderClan apprentice-he recognized him as Snappaw-pinned beneath the paws of a massive fox. The fox tore at Snappaw's face, tearing away flesh and fur from the bone. Blood poured from the facial wounds on the poor apprentice.

"Snappaw!" a male voice shouted.

Suddenly, Lionblaze exploded into the picture. He rushed at the fox, swiping at its left flank. The fox glared up at him angrily, but continued tearing into the flesh of Lionblaze's son.

"Hey, flea-brain!" Lionblaze yowled from over to the side. "Over here!"

The fox briefly turned its attention to the older warrior, and that moment, Squirrelflight entered Shadowpaw's mind's eye. She rushed at the momentarily distracted fox, slashing at its eyes. The fox screamed in agony, hiding its face from the ThunderClan deputy. Then it turned back, its left eye replaced by crimson blood. It barked angrily and jumped off of Snappaw.

Squirrelflight fell back, making her first and only fatal mistake.

Shadowpaw watched as she stuck her hind paw into a deep snow drift. Momentarily stuck, Shadowpaw watched as the ThunderClan deputy struggled out of the drift. She wasn't fast enough. The fox lunged at her, taking her by the throat. The fox yanked her out of the hole, tearing into the flesh of her neck.

"Squirrelflight!" Lionblaze screamed. "No!"

More cats poured into the picture as the fog around the three cats and the fox began to fade. Now Shadowpaw could see two foxes, and many more ThunderClan warriors. But what stood out to the ShadowClan medicine cat was the blood in the white snow. Around an unconscious Snappaw, blood was staining the snow red.

All the while, the fox continued to rip the flesh from Squirrelflight's throat.

As the vision faded, Shadowpaw already knew she was dead. No cat could survive such a gruesome throat wound. No medicine cat could save her now.

His vision cleared, and he was back on the gathering island. Not looking back, he pushed through the bushes and began to run towards the edge of the island. He ran towards the side that faced ThunderClan territory until he pushed through the final barrier of bushes.

The lake was entirely frozen over. From the island, Shadowpaw knew he could run over the the frozen lake until he reached the coast. But he also knew he would be too late. He knew that the ThunderClan deputy was already dead.

In the distance, he thought he could see the ThunderClan cats battling the foxes. He thought he could hear their screams of despair and agony.

More cats appeared behind him. He turned and saw Bramblestar before anybody else. He caught the amber gaze of ThunderClan's leader, and quickly found himself unable to speak.

"Shadowpaw, what's going on?" Bramblestar asked him worriedly.

Shadowpaw couldn't look at him. Instead, he turned back to face the coast of ThunderClan territory. He let himself say the words that he couldn't bare to say.

"Bramblestar, I'm so sorry…"

Finally, Shadowpaw turned back, and he saw the ThunderClan leader's eyes stretch wide with realization.

"What did you see?" he asked desperately.

Shadowpaw choked back a sob, and he looked to Puddleshine for support. His mentor looked confused and worried. As did all the others. But Bramblestar looked completely panicked. His tail was twitching nervously.

"I need to get back to ThunderClan," Bramblestar decided. "Alderheart, come on."

The two ThunderClan cats ran onto the ice, unafraid of the dark, freezing waters below the surface. Finally, Shadowpaw had to speak.

"Squirrelflight's dead, Bramblestar," he called out, unable to hide his own despair.

The ThunderClan leader skidded to a stop, sliding across the ice. Alderheart stopped beside him and turned back, his gaze momentarily showing disbelief. Then his eyes met Shadowpaw's, and the ThunderClan medicine cat knew. And soon, so did Bramblestar.

The ThunderClan leader closed his eyes for a moment before saying, "Willowshine, please send Ivypool and her patrol back to ThunderClan. The whole clan should be present tonight."

"Of course, Bramblestar," Willowshine replied, her own eyes shining with grief.

Tails drooping, Bramblestar and Alderheart turned away and continued their path across the frozen lake. From the island, Shadowpaw watched them go, feeling defeated, as he was unable to save Squirrelflight.


	7. Chapter 6

Shellpaw never made it very far. When he made the decision to run away from ThunderClan, he didn't have a set destination in mind. He just ran through the freezing cold and the falling snow without a plan. Throughout all of it, from attacking Slatefur to running away, he had never had a plan. His choices were instinctive. Irrational. Not thought out. He was a doer, not a thinker. He always had been.

The snow was slowing him down immensely. His paws kept getting stuck in pits of deep snow. He was getting incredibly annoyed, both with himself and with the weather. His teeth were chattering with the cold. He felt his paws growing colder, almost to a point in which it became painful to walk.

Don't look back, he thought. I don't need ThunderClan to be a warrior. I'll show every cat in the clans what kind of warrior I can be!

Shellpaw pushed himself forward, despite the pain in his paws and the increasing feeling of heaviness in his heart. Wind began to push against him, slowing his progress. He felt the snow beneath him growing deeper, and before long his strides turned to a crawl. His legs began to protest against him. Still, he pushed onward.

Until he couldn't take another step.

He took a final step, still not knowing where he was going. He misjudged the depth of the snow, and he felt his paw break through the surface. He fell headfirst into the snow drift, and above his head, snow covered the top of the hole. Shellpaw was encased in darkness and freezing cold.

He shouted in fear. He struggled to move. He thrashed his paws, hoping to find a foothold somewhere, but he found nothing but more snow. He writhed around in complete panic. He screamed for help, not knowing if anyone was nearby or if they could even hear him if they were.

 _Help!_ He thought fearfully. _Help me, please! StarClan, please!_

Shellpaw felt something sharp jab into his side and he felt the warmth of blood seeping out of the wound. His panic increased greatly. He tried desperately to reach upwards and pull himself out, to no avail. The air around him seemed to disappear and he found himself suffocating in the snow.

Then a ray of light broke through the darkness of the pit. Shellpaw looked up, seeing the paws of a brown tabby pulling away the snow above him. When there was enough room, the head of the she-cat appeared at the surface. Immediately, Shellpaw saw her sky-blue eyes and he thought of how pathetic he must look. Still, he wasn't too stupid as to turn away the help that he desperately needed.

"Sit still!" the she-cat demanded. "I'll get you out!"

She reached down and Shellpaw felt her teeth grab his scruff. With a burst of strength, the she-cat pulled him up through the deep snow. Shellpaw helped her as much as he could, pushing his way through until his head broke the surface. He unsheathed his claws and used them to find a grip in the ground. The she-cat assisted him until he found his paws beneath him once more on solid ground.

He shook the snow from his pelt and began to shiver strongly in order to regain feeling in his body. Then he remembered the cut in his side and he suddenly felt dizzy.

"You're hurt," the she-cat pointed out in concern.

Breathless, all Shellpaw could do was nod in response. All at once, he felt tired and defeated. He allowed his head to droop a bit as fatigue hit him like a stone. His eyes began to close and he began to sway on his paws.

The brown tabby she-cat pushed against his unhurt side and whispered in his ear, "You need to stay awake. Keep still while I go get something to treat your wound."

Shellpaw tried his best to stay standing, but the world was spinning around him. He felt the weight of the she-cat disappear and he nearly collapsed back into the hole that she had just rescued him from. But he did as he was told and kept his eyes open and his mind alert. He watched the blood seep into the snow around him, staining it crimson. He found the sight oddly beautiful, despite the circumstances.

 _Stay focused,_ Shellpaw, he told himself. _She's going to save you again. Just stay alert_.

He waited for what felt like an eternity to him for her to return. Finally, he was aware of her scent washing over him once more. It smelled eerily familiar to him, and for a moment he wondered if she was a StarClan cat.

Then he recognized the scent of WindClan in her fur.

He stood rigid in his place as he felt her begin to work on dressing his wound. He felt her lick some sort of herb into the wound, and then she dressed it with cobwebs. He understood that she must have been trained in this regard, and clearly quite well. To him, she seemed like an expert.

She finished with him quite quickly. Shellpaw turned to face his savior, and he wanted to thank her for her assistance, but he couldn't find the words. His rescuer was stunning. With her inviting sky-blue eyes and and warm tabby fur, he immediately found himself breathless. He stood there looking like a stone.

"What? Badger got your tongue?" his savior asked jokingly.

Finally, he rediscovered his tongue in his mouth and he said, "Thank you… I think I would have died if you hadn't found me."

She nodded in unnecessary agreement. "I saw you fall in. You were lucky I was nearby."

Shellpaw glanced around, trying to judge where exactly they were. He thought they might still be on ThunderClan territory, but there were only a few trees nearby.

"Where are we?" Shellpaw asked her.

"You managed to stumble over the WindClan border," she answered. "If I were a warrior, I would claw your ears off for being here. Since I'm not, though, I should just tell you to go home. I won't tell Harestar you were here."

Shellpaw shook his head lightly, once again feeling tiredness seeping into his muscles. "I can't go home. Not now. Probably not ever again."

The pretty she-cat leaned forward and sniffed him. "You don't smell of any clan I know of. You just smell like herbs and water." She wrinkled her nose for added effect.

"Good," Shellpaw responded. "I want to keep it that way. ThunderClan isn't my home any longer."

The she-cat looked incredibly curious now. She tilted her head to one side and looked at Shellpaw wonderingly. Her eyes were glazed as she thought about what he meant by his words. He thought he had been quite clear in his statement, but she seemed confused nonetheless.

"Why can't you go home?" she finally decided to ask.

"Because I made the choice to leave," Shellpaw answered. "Because I don't want to go back. Bramblestar, Squirrelflight, everyone. They all treat me like a kit when I should be a warrior by now. They don't realize that I don't need them."

"Clearly, you need someone," she replied immediately.

"Not anyone from ThunderClan," Shellpaw told her stubbornly.

Once again, the pretty she-cat seemed to enter her own world. She looked to be deep in thought as she considered Shellpaw's situation and the choice he was making. She couldn't think of a life she would want to live without her clan. The life of a kittypet was too boring. The path of a rogue was too unruly. A loner's life was just too… lonely. Life in a clan was perfect. A cat could have kin. Friends. Loyalty! What would life be without a clan?

"Where will you go?" she decided to ask.

"Anywhere else. Nothing will make me go back there," he replied sternly. "Not even you."

She considered this further. She thought about cats she had met that wandered onto her territory. For the most part, cats outside the clans seemed okay. Content, even. She thought of a couple cats who lived in the horseplace on WindClan territory, and suddenly, an idea struck her.

"I might know a place for you, then. If you're up for the walk," she explained.

Shellpaw considered her offer for a moment. His paws still felt like stones, but at least he wasn't in too much pain. He thought about it for a bit longer, then he nodded slowly.

"Show me."

…

The walk was difficult for Shellpaw, but he managed. He followed the beautiful she-cat to a place he had only heard of in stories. He recalled Daisy's stories of the horseplace, where she had come from. Mousewhisker and Berrynose had been born there, along with their dead sister, Hazeltail. He remembered asking them about it, but neither tom had recalled much of their experiences. They only remembered the scent of their father, Smoky.

The two clan cats entered the horseplace silently, and Shellpaw immediately sensed that something was off. There was a strange scent in the air, one that he had never smelled before. It was sickly sweet, but at the same time offputting. He felt something squirm in his belly.

"Oh no…" his companion whispered as they fully entered the place.

Shellpaw heard a sniff from somewhere within the den. He padded forward cautiously, expecting a fight. Despite his condition, he decided that he would fight off whoever the predator was so that his companion could get away. He owed her that much, and his life meant little to him at this point in comparison.

"Coriander!" the she-cat shouted.

Shellpaw immediately shushed her, hoping that whatever was lying in wait for them hadn't heard her.

Instead, a tortoiseshell and white she-cat's head popped up from behind a haystack. Shellpaw recognized the look of grief in her eyes, and he realized that the strange scent was that of death. The new cat's amber eyes were glistening with fresh tears.

His companion ran to the she-cat, and the two touched noses like they were old friends. The tortoiseshell cat pressed her face into Shellpaw's companion's shoulder. He could hear her sobbing. He watched as his companion ran her tail down the newcomer's back gently.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Shellpaw broke the silence.

"What happened here? Who is this strange cat?" he asked rudely.

The tortoiseshell broke away from Shellpaw's companion. She looked at him with a mixed look of grief and anger.

"My name is Coriander…" she broke off in another sob. Shellpaw waited for her to get ahold of herself again. She was about to speak again, but she choked. She began crying again.

Shellpaw turned to his companion and gave her a look of curiosity. She shook her head, knowing it wasn't her place to explain. Shellpaw was getting frustrated now.

"Tell me what happened here!" he demanded. "Please!"

"Smoky…" Coriander managed to say.

"What about him?" Shellpaw pressed on.

"For StarClan's sake!" his companion yelled. "How can you be so inconsiderate? Smoky was Coriander's mate. He's been sick for moons now, and I've been bringing herbs here to treat him. But they didn't work like they were supposed to."

"He died last night," Coriander confirmed, choking back another sob.

Shellpaw was taken aback, and he began to mentally scream at himself for not putting the pieces together. Of course he had known some cat was dead, but he hadn't known who that cat was. For all he knew, it could have been someone passing through. But Coriander's mate? That, he had never considered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" Shellpaw began.

"Don't be," Coriander broke him off. "He's at peace now. He's been sick for so long… I guess in some way this is mercy for him."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him," Shellpaw's companion sympathized.

"You did everything you could, Lilacpaw. Don't be sorry for something that isn't your fault," Coriander told her.

 _Lilacpaw?_ Shellpaw thought. _She's a medicine cat! No!_

Coriander led the two of them to the grave that she was halfway done with digging. To its left, Smoky's body lay surrounded by dead leaves. Shellpaw supposed that Coriander had done what she could to give him a proper vigil. With the season, there were no flowers to lay around him. Dead leaves were as close as she could get.

"I was just going to bury him," Coriander said quietly.

"Let us help you," Lilacpaw suggested.

"Thank you," the grieving she-cat replied.

Lilacpaw began to assist Coriander with digging the grave. After a moment's hesitation, Shellpaw joined them. They spent a good portion of the day digging, and then they helped Coriander lower his body into the shallow grave. All the while, Shellpaw couldn't help but notice the other grave just a foxlength away. It was marked with a stone that had scratches on it. He remembered Daisy speaking of another cat named Floss. He figured she must have died as well.

After finishing the grave, the three cats sat in silence for a long time. Shellpaw felt like an outsider, and he knew he was. He only knew Smoky from stories. He had never met the loner, personally. He knew he was the father of Mousewhisker and Berrynose, but that was essentially it. Daisy had once been his mate.

"Why are you here?" Coriander eventually asked, breaking the silence.

"He needs a place to go," Lilacpaw said, pointing her tail at Shellpaw.

Shellpaw turned to face Coriander. He saw distrust in her amber gaze, but he also felt that he could gain that trust if he needed to. The horseplace, to him, seemed like a decent place to live. It was sheltered, and he could hear all the mice scampering around. He could have a nice life here, if he wanted.

"My name is Shellpaw," he began. "I know I didn't make the best first impression. Frankly, I'm not very good at those. But if you'll have me, I'll do what I can around here. I'll do the hunting. I'll protect you from whatever is out there."

"You speak as if I'm unsafe here," Coriander responded. "I've never seen or heard a predator of any kind while I've lived here. The biggest threat we face is sickness… and Smoky couldn't take that."

"He means well, Coriander," Lilacpaw suggested lightly.

"I've nowhere else to go. I can't go home," Shellpaw begged.

Coriander sighed and lowered her head. "It's not my place to judge whether or not you can stay. Smoky would have allowed it, so I will as well. Just don't take advantage of my kindness. I may not look it, but I can fight if I have to."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Shellpaw agreed.

"Then stay," Coriander relented. She looked at Smoky's grave and began to shiver with a mix of cold and grief.

Shellpaw wanted to comfort her, but decided it wouldn't look right coming from him. He looked to Lilacpaw, who rolled her eyes at him. She began to run her tail down Coriander's back again. Shellpaw felt like he was taking advantage of the grieving she-cat, but he also felt that he couldn't go anywhere else. Lilacpaw had brought him here for a reason. Perhaps she thought that he and Coriander could help each other in some way.

"Good luck, Coriander," Lilacpaw said gently. "I'll visit again soon."

The WindClan medicine cat apprentice turned to leave, but Shellpaw caught her eye one more time.

"Thank you again, for saving me and all," he said, knowing the words were such a cliché.

"Don't mention it," Lilacpaw responded. "Just don't make me wish I hadn't."

With that said, Lilacpaw left Shellpaw with Coriander in front of Smoky's grave. His heart was beating at a rate much faster than usual, and he found himself wondering when he would see her again. With a pang, he realized that he would miss the pretty brown tabby. Already, his mind was filled with images of her sky-blue eyes. He thought she was beautiful.


	8. Chapter 7

Snappaw woke early on the morning after Squirrelflight's vigil. With the poultice still wrapped around his head, he was once again surprised that he could not see. Every time he woke up, he was reminded that his life would never be the same. In his dreams, he still hunted and fought beside his clanmates as if nothing had changed. His littermates, Spotpaw and Flypaw, would walk and hunt with him. Honeyfur would teach him everything she could, and then the three of them would become warriors together.

But life always had a habit of changing in an instant, and for Snappaw, that instant came when the foxes mauled him.

Snappaw's ears perked up as he heard Ivypool beginning to assign the patrols for the day. It was her first full day as ThunderClan's new deputy, and Snappaw thought she fit the role well. He had always respected her. She had a certain fierceness to her that made him believe he would never want to face her in a fight. More often than not, though, she was one of the most compassionate cats in the clan. She was a friend to everyone, as long as you didn't pester her too much. Get on her bad side, and her tongue could be as sharp as her claws.

Eaglepaw broke out in an intense bout of coughing. Snappaw turned to her, wishing he could make her feel better. He heard Alderheart rush to her side. Leafpool and Jayfeather were already hard at work attending to the other sick cats. Snappaw worried for all of them. In his time, he had never witnessed a sickness so serious. When he was a kit, illness had taken the life of Briarlight. Her death was one of the few that Snappaw had been alive to see, until Squirrelflight died to save him.

Growing restless, Snappaw shakingly rose to his paws. He took a hesitant step towards what he believed to be the exit of the medicine den.

"Where do you think you're going, Snappaw?" Leafpool asked as she tore up some sort of herb for Ambermoon to swallow.

"I need to stretch my legs," he responded.

"Not until we check on your injuries. Sit back down, Snappaw," the medicine cat ordered.

His neck fur bristled with annoyance, but Snappaw obeyed. He returned to his nest and stubbornly laid back down, resting his head on his paws. He wanted nothing more than to go outside and feel the breeze on his fur. Even if the air was freezing, he wanted to feel it for himself. The snow could be deeper than he was tall for all he cared.

Leafpool finished with Ambermoon, and then she padded over to him. She began to remove the dressing from his head carefully and slowly. As she did so, he felt the pressure in his head begin to fade. His wrappings were tighter than he expected them to be, but supposed that was how they were meant to be. The better to stop the bleeding and prevent infection, probably.

Soon, the wrappings were removed and Snappaw felt better than he had before. He also found that he could see light once more. Everything was blurry and distorted, but he still felt relieved that he was not entirely blind.

"Can you see?" Leafpool asked him with concern.

He followed the sound of her voice and looked up at her. He could just make out her outline, but he could not distinguish exact features of who he was looking at. He knew it was Leafpool, but by sight alone, he could not tell.

"Sort of…" Snappaw replied hesitantly. "How bad is it?"

Leafpool gently placed her tail tip on Snappaw's shoulder, saying, "Well… just come see for yourself."

Snappaw rose from his nest and allowed her to guide him towards the small pool in the back of the medicine den. When they reached it, Leafpool stepped away, allowing Snappaw a close look at his own reflection.

He stepped forward cautiously, almost not wanting to see himself. He took a deep breath and looked into the pool. Although his vision was blurry, he could make out a few things about himself. He felt his fur begin to stand on end as he made out one distinct feature. The fur on the right side of his face was mostly gone, and in place of his right eye was a gaping, bloodied hole.

Snappaw jumped back in fear of what he had become. He closed his remaining eye and tried to stop himself from crying. Tears were coming, however, and he was helpless to stop them.

"I'm sorry, Snappaw," Leafpool said quietly. "There was nothing we could do about your eye. We were able to save your ears, though they are a bit shredded. I wish things could be different."

"That doesn't stop me from being half of a cat," Snappaw muttered crossly.

"You're not any less of a cat than you used to be," the medicine cat assured gently.

Snappaw turned to face her, his fur still bristling, though now it was with anger. "Why in StarClan's name did Squirrelflight save me for this? What can I do for the clan when I can barely see? Everything is fuzzy… and dark. I look like I belong in the Dark Forest!"

Leafpool's tail twitched irritably. "My sister died because she believed in you! You have an entire life left to live, and she wanted that for you. Just because you lost an eye doesn't mean you can't be the cat that you were meant to be!"

Snappaw turned away from the pool and began to walk out of the den. Leafpool turned and watched him go, but she didn't follow him. She had other cats to worry about, and Snappaw could go a little while without another dressing. He had to adjust to his harsh new reality.

He pushed himself out into the incredible cold of the ThunderClan camp. The snow had finally taken a break from falling, but it was still piled higher than it had been in the days before. His paws sunk into the powdery, cold white substance that reached up to his chest fur.

He felt the eyes of his clanmates turn to him all at once. Shock rippled through the camp like a wave as they all took in his injuries, just as he was. He heard them whispering his name and their sympathies for him, but he didn't want to hear any of it. He needed to adjust to everything. Every cat in the clan would want to talk to him about it, however, and he knew it.

The first cat to do so was his own mother, Cinderheart. She ran up to him and began to frantically lick his fur, happy to see him up and walking again.

"Snappaw, I'm so sorry this happened to you," she said, her voice choking with emotion. "Everything will be okay. You just need to get used to all the changes."

The fox should have killed me, he thought but didn't say.

Instead, he said, "I know. I'll get used to this."

"You'll be training again before you know it," his mother assured him.

Snappaw shook his head sadly. "I won't get to be a warrior with Spotpaw and Flypaw. They'll get way too far ahead of me."

"But you will be warrior. I know you will. You'll never let this hold you back," Cinderheart assured.

His mother let him go after another quick lick on the shoulder. He padded through the camp, listening to the chorus of apologies and sympathies.

"I'm sorry, Snappaw," Poppyfrost mewed.

"This never should have happened," Mousewhisker agreed.

"Keep your chin up!" Graystripe said, his whiskers twitching.

"You'll be okay, right, Snappaw?" Flypaw asked in concern.

"We all see challenges in our lives. You'll get through this, just like the rest of us did," Stormcloud assured him.

The final cat to greet him was the one that gave Snappaw the hope that he had been searching for. Brightheart found him just as he was about to leave the camp.

"I know what you're going through," she said sympathetically. "If you ever need someone to talk to about this, I don't think there is another cat in the clans that understands this better than I do."

Snappaw turned to face her and felt like he was seeing a reflection of himself. Brightheart had lost her right eye when she was an apprentice as well, and her ears had also been shredded. Snappaw realized with a start that the two of them shared injuries. Brightheart had become a warrior, and she could do everything that any other cat could do. She was no less of a cat. That had to mean he wasn't either, right?

"How did you do it?" Snappaw asked her in a subdued tone.

"How did I do what?" Brightheart replied, blinking in confusion.

"How did you become a warrior, with everything that happened to you?" he felt the question flood out of his mouth before he could think about how it might have made her feel.

The question didn't phase Brightheart, however. In fact, she seemed almost pleased with the question. It was almost as if she had been waiting her whole life to give another cat advice on that subject.

"Cloudtail helped me come up with new hunting and fighting techniques that took advantage of my disabilities. He got me to realize that I could turn my weaknesses into strengths," she explained.

"Can you help me?" Snappaw asked hopefully. "I want to be the best warrior that I can be… and being how I am now, I don't know if Honeyfur can do that for me."

Brightheart's whiskers quivered with amusement. "I'll talk to Bramblestar about it. But if you truly want this to happen, you have to focus on recovering first. You shouldn't be leaving camp in your condition. Not yet."

"I can do that," Snappaw agreed wholeheartedly. "Thank you, Brightheart, for giving me a chance…"

"Every cat deserves a chance to live the life they want to live. That includes you," Brightheart tapped him on the shoulder with her tail as she finished the sentence. "Now go get some rest. I'm sure Leafpool will want to redress your wounds. Do that, and I'll go talk to Bramblestar."

"Thank you," Snappaw said, bowing his head respectfully before bounding back to the medicine den.

Once inside, Snappaw once again held back a gag at the strong scent of sickness. He returned to his nest and lied back down. Leafpool soon came to him and redressed his wounds. When they were redressed, and Snappaw was blinded once more, she went on to treat her other patients. Leafshade, in particular, grew weaker by the moment.

Snappaw let sleep take him once more, but he didn't feel like he had been unconscious long before a shout of dismay woke him with a start.

"Alderheart!" Sparkpelt yelled from the entrance of the medicine den. "Please help! Puddlekit has started coughing, and she feels hot!"

"Bring her in here, Sparkpelt," Alderheart replied calmly. "I'll make her a nest."

"Shouldn't I be with her?" the young queen asked frantically.

"Your place is with your other kits. Puddlekit will be just fine in here; I'll make sure of it. Now, please go back to the nursery. It's crowded enough in here without you!" Alderheart finished playfully.

Snappaw could hear Sparkpelt's tail dragging in the snow as she went to retrieve Puddlekit in order to bring her to the medicine den. He couldn't imagine watching one of his own kits get an illness so serious. He had a long time before he had to even think about such things, but he could clearly picture the hopelessness of such an event.

As Alderheart busily made Puddlekit a nest among the sea of sick cats, Snappaw couldn't help but feel like a burden. With so many sick cats in the camp, he felt bad for taking up any of the medicine cats' time. Even if Brightheart had made him feel better about everything, that wouldn't change. He wondered if he would ever stop feeling like a burden to the clan.

Only time would tell.


	9. Chapter 8

The half-moon shown weakly through the clouds as Shadowpaw slowly followed Puddleshine to the Moonpool. The two of them were making slow progress, as they suspected they would with how much snow had fallen in recent days. They left the ShadowClan camp earlier than they usually did so that they would arrive for the half-moon gathering on time. Still, Shadowpaw expected they would be late.

It had been a few days since the meeting at the gathering island and the death of Squirrelflight. Shadowpaw had briefly considered going to ThunderClan and helping out, since Leafpool, Jayfeather, and Alderheart had their paws full with all of the sick cats. He only decided against it because he was still an apprentice. Puddleshine still had much to teach him.

The ShadowClan medicine cat and his apprentice trudged through the deep snow that covered the territories around the lake. The journey to the Moonpool felt longer than usual, even if both cats were used to travelling the distance through several clan territories. They knew that they could have just walked straight over the lake, but Puddleshine had become a bit paranoid about that after Oakfur told him the story of Flametail's drowning in the frozen lake.

Shadowpaw had found his mentor's reaction to the story amusing, simply because he frequently forgot how young Puddleshine actually was. In many ways, he was still just as young and impressionable as Shadowpaw himself was. In terms of age, the two of them were roughly four seasons apart. Puddleshine had been around to see Rowanstar and Darktail, while Shadowpaw had arrived at the lake just after that conflict had ended and both cats were dead.

Kestrelflight waited beside Lilacpaw when Puddleshine and Shadowpaw reached WindClan territory. Puddleshine raised his tail in greeting, and Kestrelflight nodded in response.

"It's too cold to be waiting around out here for the others," Kestrelflight said between his slightly chattering teeth. "Willowshine went on ahead. I don't know where the others are, but it's getting late."

"Then we'll keep walking," Puddleshine agreed. Looking up at the sky, he added, "The night waits for no cat."

Kestrelflight took the lead, with Puddleshine just behind. Lilacpaw padded beside Shadowpaw, shivering between each step. He allowed his fur to brush hers gently, just to present her with a bit of warmth. He felt chilled to the bone, too.

"Have you lost any cat that was under your care, Shadowpaw?" Lilacpaw whispered to Shadowpaw quietly, as if she didn't want their mentors to overhear her.

The question, as well as its apparent secrecy, surprised him. As they kept walking, he turned to her and said, "On my watch? Not yet, but on my journey home from where I was born, a cat named Spiresight died to save my sister."

"How did you feel after that?" she responded with another question.

Shadowpaw shrugged. "I was a kit. I didn't know what to feel, aside from grief. He was a great cat- a real hero. But do I feel like there was something I could have done to save him? Honestly, I don't. It would be different if he died now, though, and if he died under different circumstances."

"How did he die?" she continued.

Shadowpaw shuddered as he remembered the terror he had felt. "A Thunderpath broke in half, and my sister, Pouncepaw, was slipping away at the top. Spiresight caught her and got her to our mother, but he fell into the river below. We never even found his body."

Lilacpaw asked no further questions, and she didn't expand on what she was alluding to. Shadowpaw looked at her as they walked; he saw something in her eyes that he hadn't noticed before. It was a powerful and negative emotion, but he could not distinguish exactly what it was. Fear? Grief?

They were getting close to the Moonpool now. Shadowpaw felt his paws slip into the indents created by the cats who had walked for many generations before him. He wondered if the other medicine cats fell into the same habit and felt the same places beneath their paws. Perhaps it was just he who could feel the history behind the Moonpool. His tail twitched with joy as they grew closer and closer to the place where they communicated with their ancestors.

A yowl sounded from behind them. Shadowpaw turned to see who it was who had called. Near the bottom of the slope, Frecklewish walked with Fidgetstep and Alderheart. Out of the three ThunderClan medicine cats, Alderheart was the only one who had come to the half-moon gathering. The sickness in ThunderClan must have been worse than Shadowpaw originally thought.

The three medicine cats caught up to the others quickly. After a quick greeting between the elder medicine cats, they continued on. Again, Shadowpaw and Lilacpaw fell to the back.

"Who did you lose?" Shadowpaw asked quietly. "Kestrelflight hasn't mentioned any deaths in WindClan."

"That's because he wasn't WindClan," she answered guiltily. "He lived in the horseplace with his mate. He had been sick for moons when his mate found me while I was out looking for herbs. She took me to look after him, so I went back there everyday with different herbs to try. Nothing I tried worked, and he died a few days ago."

Shadowpaw had heard of the horseplace cats, but he had never met them himself. He knew that they were loners that preferred to keep to themselves, rarely coming into contact with the clan cats. A ThunderClan queen, Daisy, had been one of them once.

"I'm sorry," he said honestly. "That must be hard for you."

"I'd never lost a cat before… I didn't think it would hurt so much," Lilacpaw replied, her voice breaking with emotion.

Shadowpaw stroked her back with his tail and spoke his mind, "Losing cats is part of being a medicine cat. We can't save everyone and that's just something we have to accept. Sometimes it's StarClan's will for a cat to die when they do."

"We can accept death all we want, but that doesn't change how hard it is to process," she said, staring straight ahead.

The group of medicine cats finally reached the Moonpool, where Willowshine waited for them anxiously. She ran to the others and Shadowpaw saw the anguish in her eyes immediately.

"Willowshine, what is it?" Kestrelflight asked promptly.

"Oh, Kestrelflight, it's horrible!" Willowshine exclaimed. "The Moonpool has frozen over!"

"That's not possible," Alderheart announced, breaking away from the crowd.

The ThunderClan medicine cat ran ahead of the group and stopped at the edge of the Moonpool. Curious, Shadowpaw broke from the crowd as well and followed him.

Snow piled up all around him. He stared at the surface of the Moonpool, seeing how the snow covered its icy top layer. Fearful and shaking, Shadowpaw stepped out onto the ice in hopes of breaking it. It didn't even creak beneath his weight.

"No!" he yelled in a panic.

The other medicine cats joined him on the surface of the Moonpool. Shadowpaw began to hear them whispering about the future, and how it must be a sign. He could barely hear them. In his own head, the shadows were reaching out to him.

Darkness rises to wipe the light from the sky forever…

Shadowpaw looked up as darkness covered the area around him. Clouds now covered the half moon, shrouding everything in the shadows. The ice beneath Shadowpaw felt suddenly colder.

Shivering with a mixture of cold and fear, Shadowpaw looked around him. The other medicine cats had disappeared, and he was all alone in the darkness.

"Puddleshine?" he questioned fearfully.

The Moonpool began to glow beneath the ice. Shadowpaw looked down and, with a gasp of shock, he saw the shadows of cats swimming beneath the surface. The water appeared to glow with a faded blue-green color. The snow around Shadowpaw reflected the lights, creating a strange world of blue, green, and shadow.

Suddenly, a bunch of cats began to yell out in fear. Shadowpaw jumped at the break in the silence. He looked around wildly for the source of the voices, but there didn't appear to be one. All around, the voices grew louder and more frantic. They seemed to be yelling out for help, but Shadowpaw knew he couldn't save them.

The ice cracked. Shadowpaw looked down and watched the ice fracture like a spider web. He became incredibly still in an attempt to stop himself from falling in. The ice that covered the Moonpool shattered, and Shadowpaw found himself sinking into the bitterly cold water.

All at once, the lights burned out and the shadows disappeared into the darkness. Above Shadowpaw, the surface of the Moonpool froze over again, leaving him encased in freezing waters. The shock of the cold tore all of the oxygen from his lungs. He went limp and let himself sink into the Moonpool like Flametail had in the lake.

Everything stopped as Shadowpaw continued sinking. He felt colder than he ever had in his life. His body felt numb and his insides felt like they had become the ice that covered the Moonpool.

His lungs screamed for air that never came. He began to drift away, unable to keep himself focused. His senses began to fade. Soon, he felt nothing and he was no one.

…

"Shadowpaw!" Puddleshine yelled.

Shadowpaw's eyes flew open, and he found himself staring up at the clouds once more. The half moon was still covered. Below him, ice still covered the surface of the pool that allowed them to communicate with their warrior ancestors. He sighed in exasperation.

Shadowpaw stood and shook the snow from his fur. The eyes of all of the other medicine cats were on him.

"What happened?" he asked them curiously.

"You just collapsed on the ice," Fidgetstep said. "We thought you may have slipped, but then you didn't get back up for a long time."

"Did StarClan come to you?" Willowshine questioned.

Shadowpaw met the curious gazes of the medicine cats one by one. All of them were looking at him with a mixture of concern and interest.

"I… I don't know what happened," Shadowpaw admitted. "I saw something, but StarClan wasn't there. Just darkness and ice. Shadows. There was this strange light coming from the Moonpool. The ice broke, and I…"

"Did you fall in?" Puddleshine asked worriedly.

"Yes, and I felt it. The cold. Everything went numb; I thought I was dead, or dying, at least," he revealed.

"But StarClan wasn't there?" Alderheart sounded surprised.

"It's as if the ice completely separates us from them," Shadowpaw confirmed.

The truth settled in Shadowpaw at the same moment that he believed it settled in with everybody else. The darkness, whatever it was, was coming faster than any of them had believed. Their means of communicating with StarClan had been taken from them. The biggest fear of any medicine cat was coming to fruition…

Frecklewish looked around at the other medicine cats questioningly. SkyClan was still relatively new around the lake territories, but it felt to Shadowpaw like they had always been there. For him, they had. He had been born far away from clan territory, but when he returned SkyClan had already settled around the lake. He forgot how new everything still was to the SkyClan medicine cat.

"Have you ever lost contact with StarClan before?" the SkyClan medicine cat asked.

"Not like this…" Kestrelflight meowed uncertainly.

"Well," Fidgetstep cut in. "What do we do now?"

Nobody had an answer for the young SkyClan cat. Every cat shared the same look of confusion and uncertainty. Shadowpaw couldn't help but wonder what the future held for the clans if StarClan could no longer contact them.


	10. Chapter 9

Shellpaw woke from a dream in which he was stalking a mouse. His ears perked up as he heard something slide through the hay of the horseplace. The silence of the early morning broke even further as a cat broke out in a strong fit of coughing.

Shellpaw groaned and flattened his ears against his head, hoping to drown out the noise. When that didn't work, he groaned again and stood, shaking the hay from his pelt. He shivered as a cold draft entered the horseplace. Just glancing out into the world, he could see that the snow still piled higher than he was tall. Walking outside would be a difficult task; hunting would be even worse.

His nose twitched as he scented mouse. He felt his mouth begin to salivate at the scent. Smiling, he entered the hunter's crouch and began to pad slowly through the den. He could hear the sounds of several mice nibbling on seeds and dry grass throughout the den. He spotted one beneath a pile of hay; it was fat and ready to be feasted upon. Shellpaw inched towards it, already tasting its sweet flesh upon his tongue.

Just as he was about to pounce, Coriander broke into another coughing fit. The mouse darted off into the shadows just as Shellpaw hissed and launched himself at it. He missed by more than a tail-length.

"Fox dung!" Shellpaw cursed loudly.

The young tom glared back at Coriander, who laid coughing beside Smoky's grave. She paid no attention to Shellpaw or his hunting attempts.

"Coriander, if you aren't going to hunt, I have to catch enough for both of us," Shellpaw pointed out, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "Can you please keep quiet for a few moments?"

Coriander glanced back at him with a blank gaze. She then turned to once again face her dead mate's grave.

"Hunt for yourself," she said dryly. "I don't need to eat."

Shellpaw lashed his tail once in defiance, then padded over to her, not even attempting to mask the coming anger. He flicked her ear with his tail, forcing her to look at him.

"Coriander, you haven't eaten anything since I got here, and it's been days. I may not be a medicine cat, but I know you need to eat if you want to survive," he argued.

Coriander lowered her head and rested it gently on top of Smoky's grave. "Who says I want to survive?"

She broke out into another bout of coughing. Now slightly concerned, Shellpaw pressed his nose to her fur. He recoiled immediately as he felt the heat radiating from her pelt. The scent of sickness made him gag.

"You're sick!" Shellpaw realized with a start.

The tortoiseshell she-cat didn't respond. Instead, she continued to lay with her head resting on the grave of her mate. Heat was pulsating from her, but she was shivering. Shellpaw could see her ribs beginning to show beneath her pelt. She was starving herself, which made her even more susceptible to disease. Whatever sickness that had been hanging around the horseplace since Smoky's death was still around, and whatever it was, she had caught it.

Shellpaw's paws itched to run out into the snow and search for Lilacpaw. He knew she would know what to do, and even more, seeing her would make him feel warmer. The idea was idiotic, however. If WindClan caught him on their territory, he would be sent back to ThunderClan before he could say 'mouse.' Shellpaw knew that ThunderClan was no longer his home, so the risk of searching for Lilacpaw was too high. No, Lilacpaw would have to come to them, and he knew that she would eventually. It was only a matter of time.

The only question was, would Coriander make it for that long?

Shellpaw began to pad away from the sickly she-cat. His tail drooped as he thought about what to do. He sat next to his nest and listened attentively for the sounds of mice skittering around in the shadows. When he detected a couple of them, he looked over at Coriander to assure himself that she wouldn't scare them away again.

He decided that she looked relatively calm, so he once again took to the hunter's crouch and padded silently through the horseplace. He noticed a single mouse nibbling some hay. This time, he didn't hesitate to pounce. He landed with one forepaw on the mouse's tail, then he used his other forepaw to scoop the mouse up and toss it into the air. Skillfully, he caught the mouse in his jaws and bit down, snapping several different bones at once. He dropped the bloodied mass at his paws and licked the tanginess from his lips.

He looked over at Coriander and briefly considered bringing her the mouse. Ultimately, he decided to save his breath. He reached down and bit into the fat mouse. As expected, it was juicier and plumper than any forest mouse was. It was well-fed in the horseplace, even in the middle of leaf-bare. Delicious.

After feasting on the fat mouse, Shellpaw continued to hunt. He caught three more mice before he stopped to think about the prey he was catching. He wasn't feeding a clan anymore. Just himself and, if she chose to eat, Coriander. Four mice was more than enough for two cats, especially when one was sick. Shellpaw frowned as he thought of how some of the prey may turn to crowfood.

Sighing, he took one of the dead mice and padded over to Coriander. He placed it in front of her, nearly right beneath her nose. He hoped the tantalizing scent would be enough to convince her to take a bite. He saw her sniff it and he wagged his tail twice. Then she lowered her head again and closed her eyes, leaving the mouse untouched.

Shellpaw left the mouse with her and returned to the other three. He ate one in a few bites, but between that and the one he had already eaten, his stomach began to hurt. He chose to bury the other two in the dirt for later, hoping they wouldn't spoil by the time he got to them.

Not knowing what else to do, Shellpaw returned to his nest and laid down, curling his tail over his eyes to block out the sun. His full stomach allowed him to fall asleep quickly.

…

"Coriander? Shellpaw? Are you doing alright?" Lilacpaw's voice sounded through the horseplace, causing Shellpaw to awaken immediately.

He lifted his head and saw the beautiful brown tabby enter the den. Her sky-blue eyes shined in the light of the setting sun. His heart began to race faster at the mere sight of her. He found himself wishing she wasn't training to be a medicine cat, knowing that she would never break the code and be his mate.

Mates? Shellpaw wondered. She would make a wonderful mother…

Shellpaw stood up from his nest and padded over to meet her. He reached out to touch noses with her, but she ignored him. In fact, her nose wrinkled. Shellpaw immediately thought she was dissing him, and he flattened his ears against his head in disappointment.

"I smell sickness," Lilacpaw announced.

She turned, leaving Shellpaw in the dust. He watched sadly as the cat he thought he loved ran over to Coriander. She touched her nose to the sickly she-cat's flank and instantly recoiled. Coriander coughed loudly, as if to prove that she was obviously sick.

"Shellpaw, why didn't you send for me?" Lilacpaw asked distressfully. "If she doesn't get treatment soon, she might not live to see the end of leaf-bare!"

Shellpaw stepped back, anger flooding his chest. "How was I supposed to know that? I'm not a medicine cat!"

Lilacpaw's tail twitched irritably. She sniffed the mouse in front of Coriander, then looked back up. Distractedly, she asked, "When was the last time she ate anything?"

"A few days ago," Shellpaw responded. "And before you yell at me, I've been trying to get her to eat."

"If she has the same sickness that Smoky had, she wouldn't have been able to keep prey down anyways," Lilacpaw said pointedly. "She needs herbs, not fresh-kill."

"What do you want me to do, then? Keeping her fed is about all I know how to do!" he retorted.

"Stop yelling at me, Shellpaw," she responded quickly. "It's not helping me focus."

Shellpaw lashed his tail and resolved to return to his nest. As he was doing so, he remembered the mice that he had buried in the dirt. He dug one of them up, sniffed it to assess its freshness, then picked it up in his jaws and brought it to Lilacpaw. He dropped it next to her.

"I killed too many mice today. I would appreciate it if you ate one when you have time," Shellpaw told her. When he was ignored, he returned to his nest once more.

Curling up in his nest, Shellpaw tried to listen to whatever Lilacpaw was saying to Coriander. However, he couldn't make out any words. He focused on Lilacpaw's voice as he settled into sleep once more. She annoyed him, but he still found himself thinking about her whenever he could.

He thought about parenthood, despite everything. He remembered stories that his mother, Blossomfall, used to tell him when he was younger. Her sister, Briarlight, had been paralyzed by a falling tree when she was an apprentice. She had survived for many seasons, but sickness eventually killed her. Before her death, Briarlight had been apparently favored by their parents, Graystripe and Millie. As a result, Blossomfall had felt neglected and resolved to do different with her own kits.

He felt that she had succeeded, and his father, Thornclaw, had been great as well. But he couldn't help but wonder if he would make a good father himself. He frequently got angry and lashed out. He was impatient. He wouldn't go as far as to say he was a bad cat, but he thought he would not make a very good father. If Lilacpaw were to ever break the medicine cat code and take a mate, she could do better than him.

Still, he dreamed of the patter of tiny paws in the stone hollow. He could hear the happy squeals of young voices, see the lithe forms of kits clumsily playing together, and feel the warmth of their fur on his pelt as he gave them badger rides.

Ideally, he and Lilacpaw would have three kits. Three was a manageable number, in his own opinion. Maybe two toms and a she-cat, or the opposite. Certainly not three of the same. Three sons or three daughters would be too much of the same thing.

In his dreams, he watched his imaginary kits grow up. Together with Lilacpaw, they guided their younglings through life in the clans. They watched them train into great, respectable warriors. They watched them mature and have kits of their own. He and Lilacpaw would grow old together and die in the elder's den, long after their kits' kits had become parents themselves.

He found it curious that he had envisioned all of this in ThunderClan.

Lilacpaw was WindClan. Their kits would be half-clan. No matter what happened, how respectable their kits became, they would always be half-clan. They would be looked down upon by the pure-blooded ThunderClan cats. Despite ThunderClan not having many pure-blooded cats left, kits born between two clans were looked at as shameful. Mating with a kittypet was almost better than that.

A medicine cat from another clan? Not in this life.

Shellpaw woke up again when he felt something flick his nose lightly. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Lilacpaw, her face serious.

"Shellpaw, stand up," she commanded.

He did as she told him and stood on all fours. He arched his back in a stretch and stepped out of his nest, brushing past her gently. He stopped with his fur still touching hers. She stepped farther away instinctively.

"I need you to look after Coriander," Lilacpaw said simply.

"How? I don't know anything about herbs," Shellpaw replied.

Lilacpaw sighed in exasperation. "I'm going to come back in the morning with the herbs that I think she'll need. I'll tell you what to do with each of them, but I can't keep coming here every day to check on her. I did that with Smoky, and Kestrelflight kept asking me where I was. I can't let him find out about this, especially with you here, too. I'll come when I can, but that won't be often enough to keep Coriander alive. That's why I need you."

Shellpaw's heart fluttered away like a butterfly when he heard that last phrase: "I need you." He smiled and nodded without even processing the rest of her request. He simply wanted to impress her and get her to fall for him.

"Okay," he agreed thoughtlessly.

"Good," Lilacpaw said with a nod. "I'll be back in the morning. For now, just… keep an eye on her, okay?"

"Okay," he said again.

Shellpaw reached forward to touch her nose, but she turned away quickly. He watched her run over to Coriander and explain the situation to her. Coriander nodded weakly, then Lilacpaw left the horseplace.

The mouse that he had given her was still lying next to the one that he had given to Coriander. Both of them were untouched.


	11. Chapter 10

A quarter moon had passed since his disfigurement, but Snappaw was still confined to the medicine den. His dressings were now only wrapped around the damaged part of his face, which allowed him to start retraining his remaining eye to see properly. Regardless of what the fox had done to him, Snappaw was determined not to let it bother him any longer. His vision improved a little bit with each passing sunset. He could pick out the details in his clanmates' fur now, instead of seeing blurred images. Once again, he could determine which cat was which purely based on sight.

More cats were catching the mysterious illness, leading Snappaw to wonder how he hadn't caught it yet. He was weakened by his injuries, yet he felt healthy. Young, strong cats like Finleap and Flippaw had caught it. So had Thornclaw. Alderheart was keeping a close eye on Flamekit, who had also started coughing the night before. Sparkpelt was worried sick about him, as Puddlekit was already ill and looking worse for wear.

Beside him, Leafshade broke into a rough fit of coughing. Snappaw looked at her in alarm. He immediately noticed the droplets of blood flying from the warrior's lips. Snappaw stood and called for help.

"Leafpool! Jayfeather! Leafshade needs help!" Snappaw shouted.

Leafpool looked up from helping Eaglepaw and her eyes widened when she saw the blood flying from Leafshade's mouth. She ran to her quickly, yelling for Jayfeather to grab a few catmint leaves.

As Jayfeather appeared from deeper in the den, Snappaw returned his gaze to Leafshade. His tail twitched uncertainly as he watched the sick cat's chest heave with the effort of coughing. Her pelt clung to his ribs, allowing Snappaw to count each one individually. Her eyes were closed and her breath was wheezing. Snappaw doubted there was much of anything Leafpool or any medicine cat could do for her.

Leafpool checked Leafshade's pulse quickly before shaking her head to Jayfeather. She frowned.

"It's no use. Her heart's giving out," the medicine cat revealed sorrowfully.

Snappaw stared at the young warrior as she gasped for a few final breaths. Blood dripped steadily from her jaws, pooling on the ground in front of her. Her eyes closed halfway and her rough breathing went from shallow and wheezy to nonexistent.

Leafshade was the first victim of the mysterious illness.

Leafpool lowered her head in defeat, then sighed. She reached forward and closed Leafshade's eyes completely. She then picked up the young warrior by her scruff and began to carry her out of the den. Snappaw rose to his paws and followed her, taking Leafshade's hindquarters and positioning them onto his back. Leafpool looked back at him sorrowfully before lifting the warrior's front half onto her own back. Together, Leafpool and Snappaw carried their fallen clanmate out into the snow-filled stone hollow.

In the center of the hollow, they lowered Leafshade onto the ground. All around, their healthy clanmates gathered. Shock rippled through the camp when they saw Leafshade's body looking so lifeless.

"Leafshade…" Honeyfur started sadly, her voice breaking at the sight of her dead sister.

"No!" Lilyheart's caterwaul echoed through the stone hollow as she pushed her way through the gathering crowd. "Leafshade, no! Please no!"

Leafpool and Snappaw stepped back respectfully as the grieving mother collapsed next to the body of her deceased kit. She had already lost her mate, Snowbush, a few seasons earlier when rocks fell into the camp and landed on his leg. The infection had spread quickly and killed him before the medicine cats could do much to help him. Now one of their only kits was dead as well. Snappaw could only imagine her grief.

"Where's Larksong?" Honeyfur asked those around her. "He should be here, too."

"Ivypool had him lead a patrol to the SkyClan border," Hollytuft answered.

"How long ago?" Honeyfur questioned farther.

"Not long," Hollytuft answered again. "I'll go find him."

Hollytuft twitched her tail, beckoning for Cherryfall to follow her. The senior warrior nodded and followed the black she-cat out of camp. Snappaw watched them go, wishing he could accompany them. His paws itched to leave the camp, if only for a little while.

Lilyheart took her place at Leafshade's head and began to run her tongue down her daughter's fur. Honeyfur laid beside her and joined in sharing tongues with her sister for the final time. Leafpool stepped in for a few moments in order to say the words that would guide Leafshade to StarClan. Lilyheart cried when the medicine cat finished her duty.

Those who were closest to the fallen warrior gathered closer once Leafpool finished her ceremony. Snappaw watched them for a moment before turning to return to the medicine den.

"Snappaw?" Leafpool called after him.

"Yes, Leafpool?" Snappaw asked, turning to face the medicine cat.

"I think it would be best if you stayed in the elder's den with Graystripe and Millie for the time being. We're running out of space in the medicine den, and I wouldn't want you catching this sickness. Whatever it is, it's more dangerous than greencough. I've never seen a cat cough up blood like Leafshade did…" she said, trailing off. "I'll have Thriftpaw and Bristlepaw make you a nest. For now, just try to relax."

Snappaw dipped his head respectfully and replied with, "Thank you, Leafpool. Does this mean I'm no longer confined to the camp?"

Leafpool looked anxious to get back to work, but she answered Snappaw's question. "I'll allow you to go on one walk per day for the time being, as long as you have an experienced, healthy warrior with you. I still want to keep an eye on your injuries, just in case they get an infection." That said, she returned to the medicine den.

Snappaw twitched his whiskers in satisfaction, then padded over to the elder's den.

Inside the elder's den, Millie was fast asleep in her nest. Beside her, Graystripe lay with his tail curled over his nose. His yellow eyes were open and shining as he looked at his mate's sleeping form. His throat rasped with a purr.

Snappaw raised his tail in greeting as the elder's eyes met his. Graystripe rose from his position and padded over to the other side of the den. He motioned with his tail for the apprentice to join him. Snappaw did so happily, settling in beside the old gray tom.

"This weather isn't doing Millie any favors," Graystripe whispered. "This is the first time she's slept in days."

"Has she been coughing?" Snappaw asked him.

"No, nothing like that. Millie doesn't get sick often. We used to think she had some sort of immunity, then she got really sick. Hasn't since, though," the elder replied.

"How about you? Are you doing alright?" Snappaw continued.

Graystripe sighed. "I've seen worse leaf-bares than this. Sickness comes with the weather. Too many great cats have been taken away because of it… my daughter included. But to answer your question, I'm fine. It'll take a bit more than some sickness to take me out."

"I think this is killing Leafpool, watching so many cats in the clan fall ill. Leafshade is already gone, and that doesn't look like it will be the end of this. Half the clan must be sick at this point," Snappaw mentioned. "Puddlekit is getting really bad. So are Daisy and Eaglepaw."

"That's not for you to worry about," Graystripe concluded. "You need to focus on getting better yourself. Leafpool, Jayfeather, and Alderheart can take care of the sick cats. You're not a medicine cat, Snappaw. Just get some rest."

"I should be out hunting for the clan, not sitting in the elder's den wasting my energy. I may be half blind, but I can still help my clan. Brightheart will help me," the apprentice argued.

"Bramblestar will decide that. Now please, be quiet and take a nap. Millie is trying to sleep and I'd like to join her if I can," the elder decided.

Graystripe returned to his nest beside his mate and curled up into a ball, resting his head on Millie's back. He closed his eyes, and within moments he was snoring. Snappaw held back a meow of amusement. He smiled at the sight of the old couple. He briefly wondered if he would ever have something like that.

…

Two days after Leafshade's death, Puddlekit followed her to StarClan. In the center of the stone hollow, Sparkpelt and her two healthy kits lay beside her. Larksong sat off to the side, swimming in his own grief. In just two days, he had lost his sister and his daughter. To add insult to injury, Flamekit had caught the sickness as well. Shadekit and Rainkit were still healthy, but both were skinny and malnourished because of the weather. Prey was hiding from the intensity of the cold and the depth of the snow.

The death of Sparkpelt's young kit hit the clan hard. Kits were the future. Sparkpelt was the only nursing queen, and one of her kits was dead while another was sick. Everyone that was healthy spent most of their time hunting, trying desperately to catch enough prey to feed the sick and keep Sparkpelt healthy.

Snappaw was sick of not being able to do anything. He was healthy. Yes, his face was torn up, but he could still be useful. He paced the elder's den restlessly, trying not to wake Millie and Graystripe from their midday nap. His paws were itching to go on his daily walk and catch some prey for ThunderClan.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Snappaw walked out into the clearing. He looked at the gathering of cats around Puddlekit's tiny body and frowned. That was what he wanted to fix. Nobody else had to die.

Snappaw walked over to the prey pile and found Dewnose searching through it. The warrior picked out a skinny vole and took it away to eat. Snappaw followed him.

"Dewnose," he called when the warrior settled down to eat.

Dewnose looked up before he was able to take a bite. He frowned and asked, "What do you need, Snappaw?"

"I need a warrior to walk with me. You didn't look busy, so I came to you," Snappaw answered.

"I promised Flypaw I would take her for battle training today," the warrior said, stopping to take a bite of the vole.

"She can come with us. Come on, Dewnose! I need to get out of camp today," Snappaw begged his sister's mentor.

"It's just not a good time, Snappaw. Flypaw needs to learn if she ever wants to be a warrior, and I'm her mentor. My duty is to her before it is to you, okay? Please, let me eat so that I can do what I need to do," he stated.

"Fine," Snappaw relented, leaving the stubborn warrior to his meal.

Annoyed now, Snappaw slipped out of camp through the dirtplace tunnel. He stopped to make dirt before deciding to just go on his walk by himself. Clearly, it was the only way he was going to get out of camp that day.

Quickly, Snappaw jumped into a snow pile in order to disguise his scent a little. It would be just his luck for someone to follow his scent and find him. He would never be allowed outside of camp again! He couldn't take that risk, because he needed this. Just the chance to stretch his legs felt like everything. He couldn't recover without the exercise.

The cold was almost too much for him, but he rolled around in the snow until his golden fur was thoroughly covered. He stood up and shook himself, hoping that it had been enough to disguise his scent. Before anything or anyone could stop him, he stepped out into the wilderness.

Almost immediately, he scented mouse. It was faint, but it was most certainly there. He detected the tiny footprints of the creature in the snow. Slowly and carefully, he began to tread through the snow in search of the prey.

Soon, a stronger scent led him astray. It was a scent he had never discovered before, but he felt strongly that it was prey. It was musty and damp. He thought it almost smelled like rabbit, but it was distinctly different.

He soon came across large tracks that he had never seen. They didn't look like pawprints, but they also didn't resemble the tracks of twolegs. He briefly considered returning to camp and asking a warrior about them, but soon decided against it. He might lose the tracks if he abandoned his search.

He followed the tracks closer and closer to the lakeshore. Then, just when he felt like turning around and heading home, Snappaw found what he was looking for. Just beside the lake stood a large brown creature. It was skinny and Snappaw could count each of its ribs. He thought it might have eaten plants, since it was so skinny. There wasn't any foliage available for such a creature to eat properly. Its head was bent as it lapped at the slush at the edge of the lake.

Snappaw carefully took a few steps forward. It was clearly too large to be prey, but he was curious. He had never even heard stories of such a creature. He had made a new discovery to the clans, he thought. Just wait until he told Spotpaw and Flypaw about it!

But before he could get any closer, he felt the snow below him give way. He had been so focused on the creature in front of him, he had forgotten about the depth of the snow and the danger of snow drifts. The snow beneath him gave way and he fell into a pit of snow, darkness sealing him in as the white powder covered his head.

No! He thought helplessly. I'm so close!

He thrashed about, striking the frozen ground beneath his paws. He struggled until he could feel his paws touch solid ground. The struggling had only buried himself deeper, but at least he could somewhat stand. He desperately tried to breathe, but snow filled his mouth and began to choke him.

Is this it? Am I dying? He thought fearfully.

He closed his eyes and fought for oxygen, but there was none to be found. Just as he was about to give up, he felt jaws clamp down on the scruff of his neck and pull him up.

As his head broke through the surface of the snow, he took in a deep, gasping breath. Snow still filled his lungs, leading him to cough and sputter until his lungs were clear once more. He closed his eyes and coughed frantically.

When he was able to breathe once more, he opened his eyes and searched the lakeshore for the creature he had spotted. It was gone, but the tracks were still there and they led to SkyClan territory. He felt saddened as he wondered if the SkyClan cats would take the credit for his discovery.

Snappaw turned to face his rescuer. When he did, he saw a black she-cat with serious green eyes. She sat next to the hole she had just saved him from, licking her forepaw and rubbing the snow from her face with it.

Just for a second, Snappaw thought he could see through her. Then he shook his head and thought he was crazy for believing that, however briefly. The she-cat reminded him of Hollytuft, but she had a different scent…

"Thank you for saving me," Snappaw said after he regained his composure. "But… who are you? You don't smell like any clan cat I've met."

The she-cat waited until her face was clear of snow to answer. When it was, she sat up straight and looked Snappaw over with her sharp green gaze.

"That's because we haven't met before," she revealed. "But I know you quite well. Better than you think. We're kin. My name is Hollyleaf."


	12. Chapter 11

Shadowpaw worked tirelessly beside Puddleshine in an effort to care for the sick and starving. Prey in the pine forests had become entirely too scarce in recent days, and in the quarter moon since the meeting at the gathering island, ShadowClan had become weak with hunger. Cats of all ages were losing weight much too quickly.

Whatever prey had been caught went to Cinnamontail before anyone else. She was the only nursing queen and Tigerstar was adamant about not letting her kits die to the coming starvation. The rest of the clan respected that and felt the same way, even though they were all suffering as a result.

Shadowpaw himself felt weak. His stomach felt like it would start to eat itself soon if he didn't get food. Tigerstar sent out ten hunting parties a day, but each patrol came back with a maximum of two pieces of prey. Most came back with nothing, no matter how much time they spent away hunting. The best piece of prey had been caught by Blazeheart two days ago: a skinny rabbit with enough meat on its bones to give Cinnamontail and Puddleshine strength for the next day.

Tigerstar set up a system to assure that each of his cats were fed well enough to survive. Cinnamontail always got first pick of the fresh-kill pile, no matter the circumstances. Puddleshine and Shadowpaw were allowed next, if there was anything left to choose from- the clan needed its medicine cats if they wanted to survive the sickness that was sure to follow the starvation. Oakfur and Ratscar took whatever they could. Then, if there was ever anything left to choose from, the apprentices got to eat. Warriors ate if they were lucky. Tigerstar and Scorchfur only took prey if everyone else in the clan had taken at least a bite to eat. That hadn't happened in several sunrises.

In the medicine den, Puddleshine and Shadowpaw did what they could for Ratscar, who had grown weak quicker than anyone had expected. His pelt clung to his bones, leaving Shadowpaw to count all of his ribs effortlessly. Even his legs looked like they had been stripped of any and all muscle. He looked like a living skeleton.

"Ratscar, when was the last time you ate anything?" Puddleshine asked him sternly.

Ratscar wheezed a few breaths before responding weakly with, "The young cats need it more… I've been giving my prey to Berryheart's kits. They need their strength for training."

"Ratscar, you need to eat, too!" Puddleshine scolded the elder. "When Tawnypelt's patrol gets back, you're taking something to eat immediately! Understand?"

Ratscar laughed without humor. "Save it. The stars are already whispering to me. I don't have long; you and I both know that."

"Do you really care so little about yourself that you would just give up? That doesn't sound like you, Ratscar," Puddleshine pleaded.

The elder shrugged away the medicine cat's plea. He sighed and said, "It's not about that… I've served ShadowClan well. I'm old- just another mouth to feed, and I contribute nothing but stories for the young. Maybe some see worth in that, but I don't. I'm ready to join StarClan's ranks. At least I can die saying I did something for my clan. I fed those who can care for others. I can die fulfilled."

Ratscar settled into his makeshift nest and closed his eyes. His breathing became shallow and quick, but he didn't appear to mind. He simply said, "Just... leave me... in peace…"

Shadowpaw and Puddleshine looked at each other for a moment, sharing a wordless conversation about whether or not to let Ratscar do what he wanted to do. The morality of the decision was questionable at best, but the elder had made up his mind. They couldn't force him to eat, especially when they had no prey to offer him at that exact point in time.

They didn't have to discuss anything further than that. When just moments before he had been speaking coherently, Ratscar stopped breathing. Puddleshine and his apprentice stared at the elder and almost felt his spirit leave his body. Shadowpaw couldn't help but wonder if Ratscar would find his way to StarClan when their warrior ancestors couldn't even seem to find them.

"Help me take his body out into the clearing," Puddleshine ordered solemnly.

Shadowpaw nodded and helped get Ratscar's body onto Puddleshine's back. Shadowpaw used his own shoulders to hold up the elder's hindquarters. Walking carefully and slowly, the medicine cats carried their fallen clanmate out into the middle of the camp.

Around them, their starving clanmates watched as they lightly laid Ratscar down in the snow. Puddleshine whispered the words that would hopefully guide the elder to StarClan, then he padded away with his tail trailing behind him. Shadowpaw sat beside Ratscar with his tail curled around his paws. He waited for someone- anyone- to come forward and sit with their clanmate. For the longest time, nobody did.

Ratscar had no family in the clan, except for his younger sister, Snowbird. With their age difference, the two of them had never been close. Their parents were long dead. Ratscar never took a mate, and therefore he had no kits. Nobody in ShadowClan was particularly close to him. When he was younger, Ratscar wasn't the nicest of cats. He was abrasive and unfriendly. Since he retired, however, he had mellowed out a bit. Still, the older warriors found it hard to respect him. The young cats only knew him for his stories.

Finally, Ratscar's denmate, Oakfur, stepped forward. The old cat looked almost as frail as Ratscar did, but Shadowpaw knew he had been eating whatever he was allowed to. Oakfur was well respected in the clan, and he had served it well for many seasons. When he stepped forward to sit with Ratscar for his vigil, other cats began to as well.

Berryheart's kits- Hollowpaw, Spirepaw, and Sunpaw- came to sit with the elder, too. Shadowpaw stayed with them until he felt he was no longer needed. He stood up and trudged through the snow in order to return to the medicine den.

As he was about to enter the medicine den, Shadowpaw heard rustling at the entrance to the camp. He glanced over and saw Tawnypelt pad through the entry tunnel with Juniperclaw leaning against her shoulder. Behind them, Lightpaw and Conepaw walked with their fur bristling in fear. Shadowpaw called for Puddleshine, then ran to meet them in the clearing.

"What's going on?" Shadowpaw asked them quickly.

"Nothing," Juniperclaw answered flatly. "They're making a big deal out of something unimportant."

"You have an infection, Juniperclaw! That's not nothing," Tawnypelt argued.

"For StarClan's sake, I was just scratched by a thorn! It's nothing! Honestly," Juniperclaw responded in annoyance.

"Thorn scratches can be deadly if left untreated," Shadowpaw corrected. "How long ago were you scratched?"

"I don't know… two, three days ago? I was on a hunting patrol! Feeding the clan seemed more important than some stupid scratch that barely even bled," Juniperclaw argued further.

Puddleshine exited the medicine den and ran to join them. He had a bundle of herbs in his jaws. He stopped beside Juniperclaw and began fussing over the wound in his shoulder. Shadowpaw noticed that it was red and puffy. It was certainly infected.

"Juniperclaw, if this infection gets any worse, it could very easily kill you," Puddleshine informed the warrior. "You should have come to us straight away!"

The lithe black tom lowered his head, saying, "I'm sorry… I didn't know. I thought it was fine."

Puddleshine next looked to Tawnypelt, nodding towards Conepaw in the process. "Tell Tigerstar to give him a temporary mentor until we can clear Juniperclaw's infection. I want to stay positive for now, but do tell him that this readjustment may be a bit more permanent than he would like it to be."

Tawnypelt agreed to Puddleshine's terms, then padded over to Tigerstar's den. Puddleshine led Juniperclaw to the medicine den, where Shadowpaw couldn't help but think would be the last place the young warrior walked. The infection itself was bad, but with the constant hunger on top of it, Shadowpaw feared the worst.

"My mentor's going to die, isn't he?" Conepaw asked tiredly. It wasn't even really a question. It was more like Conepaw already knew how this would turn out.

"It's too soon to tell," Shadowpaw replied hopefully.

Lightpaw touched her tail to Conepaw's shoulder. She said, "If anybody can save your mentor, my brother can. He's going to be the best medicine cat in all of the clans soon!"

"It's not a competition, Lightpaw," Shadowpaw reminded his littermate. "Boast again if I can save Juniperclaw, but not until then."

Shadowpaw bid his sister and the older apprentice farewell before turning and running back to the medicine den. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the small gathering of cats around Ratscar's body. He hoped Juniperclaw wouldn't be joining Ratscar in the ground come morning.

…

Juniperclaw's condition quickly deteriorated over the next couple of days. The infection kept getting worse, no matter what herbs Puddleshine and Shadowpaw used on him. Nothing they did seemed to help, and before long, Puddleshine was forced to call it. Two sunrises after Ratscar's death to starvation, Juniperclaw succumbed to his infection.

After his vigil, Oakfur took the young tom's body for burial. Strikestone, Juniperclaw's only remaining littermate, joined Oakfur in doing so. His brother's death had hit him hard, Shadowpaw knew. The two of them were all each other had; now Strikestone had nobody.

Shadowpaw sat outside of the medicine den with his head lowered. He felt like a failure for having lost two clanmates so close to each other. He knew Puddleshine felt the same. After all, what was the point in being a medicine cat if they lost more cats than they saved? But the fact remained: there was no cure for starvation. Only food could cure that. Traveling herbs may have kept their clanmates feeling full, but they wouldn't help them in the long run. They would still starve, even if they didn't feel like they were.

Shadowpaw perked his ears up as he heard Scorchfur whispering with Tigerstar.

"Strikestone wants to go searching for his sister…" the deputy began cautiously.

"Sleekwhisker?" Tigerstar responded, clearly appalled at the suggestion. "Why would he want to go looking for that traitor? She killed Rowanclaw!"

"She's still his sister, as well as the last surviving member of his family. I think he may have the right, if he wants to put himself in that situation," Scorchfur suggested gently.

The ShadowClan leader shook his head in frustration, saying, "Even if I allowed it, now is far from the best time. ShadowClan is starving. We need every healthy warrior to hunt, and that includes Strikestone. That's the end of it, understand?"

"I agree, Tigerstar, but I fear he may go even if we say no. I recall you doing something similar not all that long ago," the deputy pointed out.

"That was different," Tigerstar replied indignantly. "Dovewing wasn't dangerous. She was scared, alone, and carrying my kits. Sleekwhisker is dangerous, and it's impossible to know if she is alone or not. She may be with other rogues, waiting for us to find her. She's not worth the risk. If I have to, I'll have somebody assigned to watch Strikestone. I can't let him leave."

Shadowpaw stopped eavesdropping at that point, though he suspected that the conversation was over anyway. He remembered hearing stories of the traitorous rogue named Sleekwhisker. She had been a loyal follower of Darktail when he and his Kin took control of Clan territory. She had taken part in several brutal murders of Clan cats, including Rowanclaw and Needletail. If ever there was an evil cat to walk amongst the clans, she was it.

 _But what if it were Lightpaw or Pouncepaw?_ Shadowpaw wondered. _Would I go searching for them?_

Undecided, Shadowpaw turned and entered the medicine den once more. He was exhausted, as he hadn't slept since Juniperclaw revealed his infection. Puddleshine was already curled up in his own nest, passed out after days of work. His tail twitched as if he was dreaming.

Shadowpaw found his own nest and sat down. He plopped down and curled his tail over his eyes to block out the light coming from the entrance of the den. It was early in the morning, and the sunrise reflected brightly against the fallen snow. The medicine cat apprentice still had no trouble falling asleep, as exhaustion took its toll.

Shadowpaw felt as if he had been asleep for a heartbeat when his eyes opened once more. He found himself no longer protected by the walls and the roof of the medicine den. Instead, he found himself in a snow-covered clearing, far away from any territory he knew of in the waking world. Above him, the sky was dark and starless. The moon was nowhere to be seen, leaving Shadowpaw in complete darkness.

Suddenly, a single star appeared in the sky. Shadowpaw's eyes focused on the single star, burning brightly in the middle of the abyss. Then, without warning, the star began to fall from the sky. It hurtled straight towards him.

Every instinct told Shadowpaw to run, but he stood his ground. He watched as the light of the falling star took over all of his sight, until there was nothing but the white, shining light. His mind spun with the possibilities.

Dozens of voices began to speak all at once, all muttering the same thing over and over again.

All of the voices chanted," _The skies have darkened. Seek the light of the fallen star_."

Just as quickly as the light had arrived, it vanished, leaving Shadowpaw in the dark again.


	13. Chapter 12

Several sunrises had passed since Coriander initially grew sick. In the days since, Shellpaw had done everything that Lilacpaw asked him to do. The day after her first visit, she had delivered herbs and explained what each of them did and how they would help Coriander heal. Shellpaw noticed that each herb was browning around the edges, and when he had asked about it, Lilacpaw had shown concern, but said nothing to confirm or deny his suspicions. She hadn't returned since delivering the herbs, causing Shellpaw to miss her more than he could have thought possible.

Still, the minimal training that he had received from her appeared to be working. Coriander was now strong enough to stand on her own. Shellpaw took this as a sign that she was strong enough to do other things as well.

So, as soon as the sun touched the horizon on the new morning, Shellpaw padded over to Coriander's sleeping form and touched his nose to her flank. The heat was still there, but it was much cooler than it had been days earlier. Shellpaw smiled at his own success, knowing that he will have made Lilacpaw proud.

He nudged Coriander's side, noticing that she was plumper than she had been earlier. He could no longer count her ribs and she was gaining a bit of her weight back. He took that as more signs of his own success.

"Coriander, wake up," Shellpaw whispered. When she didn't stir, he repeated the phrase a bit more loudly. This time, she opened her eyes and looked up at him in annoyance.

"I was dreaming about Smoky. Did you have to wake me already?" she hissed.

Shellpaw dipped his head in apology. "I'm sorry, but it's time for your herbs. And I thought we'd try something new today."

Coriander flicked her ears and laid her head back down. "Something new? What, another bitter herb for me to try out?"

Shellpaw nudged her to her paws, much to her annoyance. However, she stood and stared at the ground crossly. There was an awkwardness in her stance, as if she were getting used to balancing again. Shellpaw couldn't help but wonder what that might have meant, but he decided not to dwell on it.

"Somebody must have already taught you how to hunt if you're still alive," Shellpaw started. "But has anybody ever taught you how to defend yourself?"

"Defend myself from what? You?" Coriander asked bitterly. "I think I can handle you on my own."

Shellpaw stifled a laugh. "No, there's much worse out there than me. Have you ever seen a fox? Or a badger?"

Coriander sighed. "Smoky told me a story about a group of badgers that tried to drive out one of your… clans. He said he nearly lost his and Daisy's kits to them."

Shellpaw nodded, recalling the same story, though he had heard it from Graystripe. The badgers had taken ThunderClan by surprise, and the assault had resulted in the deaths of the clan's medicine cat, Cinderpelt, as well as a young warrior named Sootpelt. After the surprise attack, Daisy and her kits had briefly returned to the horseplace, but had managed to be coaxed back into the clan that they now lived in.

"I won't always be here with you, Coriander. So, I'm going to teach you how to fight like a warrior. Then even if you're alone, you'll be able to fight for what's yours," he told the she-cat.

Coriander's gaze flicked down again. "I'm not going to be alone, Shellpaw. Not ever."

Shellpaw was taken aback. Confused, he took a few pawsteps back and looked over the haystacks in the horseplace. Then he turned back to her and said, "You do realize that I'm not going to be here forever, right? This is just temporary, until I figure out what I'm doing with my life."

"I'm not talking about you, stupid furball!" Coriander shot back. She padded away from the former ThunderClan apprentice and stood before Smoky's grave once more. "I'm expecting kits…"

Shellpaw stiffened for a moment, wondering how that could have happened, when he realized the obvious. The kits weren't his, clearly. Coriander likely hated him, but Shellpaw had very briefly feared the worst. Then the reality hit him. The situation was worse than that. The kits' father was very obviously Smoky, who was just as obviously dead.

"I'm sorry…" Shellpaw started, unsure of how to continue.

"You're sorry?" Coriander seethed, now glaring at him like the idiot that he was. "My kits' father is dead! I'm going to be raising these kits alone! You don't get to be sorry!"

"All the more reason to learn to fight!" Shellpaw argued. "You need to be able to protect those kits if you want them to survive!"

"What, are you suggesting that I can't care for them by myself?" Coriander spat back.

"Yes!" Shellpaw instantly replied. "No! That's not what I meant… I mean, you'll care for them just fine, but they'd be better off if I taught you how to defend yourself. Clan cats take care of each other, but you don't have a clan. The best I can do is teach you how to fight."

"You don't have a clan either," Coriander responded, her ears flat against her head.

"No, but I was trained by a warrior," Shellpaw explained. "I should have been a warrior myself by now. That's why I left… well, one of the reasons. I can train you."

"Thanks, but if I'm going to be raising these kits alone, then I can defend them on my own, too," the expecting queen finished, ending the argument.

Coriander curled back up into a ball on the ground, resting her tail over her muzzle to make sure Shellpaw understood that the argument was over and that she had won. The former apprentice stared at her, unsure of what to do next. She didn't want his help. She thought she didn't need his help. But the thing was, Shellpaw thought she did. Shellpaw knew she did. She was just being stubborn because she hated him. Just like all of the other apprentices in ThunderClan. Just like his littermates.

Shellpaw hissed in annoyance and strode away from the queen. His claws instinctively unsheathed and he began to tear at the drying grass in the horseplace ground. He was frustrated beyond belief. How could he get the stubborn queen to listen to reason? She clearly thought she could protect her kits on her own, but facing foxes and badgers alone could quickly become deadly. She understood that, didn't she?

"Look, Coriander, I'm really sick of cats telling me what I can and can't do," Shellpaw started, not even really speaking to the expecting queen. "I'm old enough to know what's a good call and what isn't. You need to be able to defend those kits, and without the help of a warrior, you won't be able to do that. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but it's the truth. You couldn't protect those kits from a kittypet, let alone a badger. So let me help you, so that you can help yourself."

Again, she ignored him. Fed up now, Shellpaw stormed away from her. He headed into the shadows of the den and curled up in a bed of hay. Around him, mice scuttled around, making only the slightest of noises. Still, Shellpaw was too angry to sleep. He just lay there for a long time, fuming and thinking of how ungrateful Coriander was- how everybody was. The only cat that even seemed to remotely appreciate him was Lilacpaw, and he hadn't seen her in days.

Why does everybody hate me? Shellpaw wondered bitterly.

…

Two days later, Shellpaw went outside in the snow to hunt. He was growing sick of mice. He wanted to taste rabbit or vole. Something different. Plus, he needed an excuse to get away from Coriander. She had only grown angrier with him in the days since their argument. She hardly spoke to him now, though a part of him was secretly pleased to see that his makeshift treatment of her illness appeared to be helping. Lilacpaw would be proud of him, he knew. At least he could count on that.

The cold had only gotten worse since the last time he had left the horseplace. The snows were deeper than they had been before as well. Soon, it would be well above his head and he and Coriander would most certainly be trapped within the walls of their den. Shellpaw shivered at the thought of being trapped with her and nobody else. That had been the one benefit of living in a clan: he had never been stuck with just one cat who hated him.

Just dozens of them who did, he thought.

Despite the cold and the snow, Shellpaw soon caught the scent of a rabbit. Excited, he followed it until he saw the creature's little white tail. Its ears perked up as he drew nearer. For a moment, Shellpaw wondered if he had somehow approached the creature with the wind blowing from the wrong side of him. Then he heard pawsteps and he swore under his breath as the rabbit took off across the snow-covered moorland.

For a moment, Shellpaw was angry. Then he saw a familiar pair of sky blue eyes through the snow and his heart fluttered like a bird's wings. Lilacpaw…

"How is she?" Lilacpaw asked immediately, not bothering with a proper greeting.

Slightly discouraged, Shellpaw looked towards the horseplace and said, "She's improving. She could hunt on her own now if she wanted to."

"And the kits?" Lilacpaw questioned.

"You knew about them?" Shellpaw responded quizzically.

"I'm a medicine cat. Of course I know she's expecting," she replied immediately. "Will you bring me to her?"

Shellpaw nodded in agreement. He brushed his tail over her shoulder, beckoning for her to follow him. She did so, and he led her over to the horseplace. He led the way, giving her spaces in the snow for her to walk without getting too much snow stuck in her fur. He was happy that she was there with him, so he didn't care how cold he got. She was all that mattered.

Inside, Lilacpaw bounded over to the expecting queen without another word to Shellpaw. Coriander greeted her happily, brushing her muzzle against the medicine cat's flank.

"You're welcome," Shellpaw muttered underneath his breath.

"How are you feeling?" Lilacpaw asked her instantly.

"Much better," Coriander responded. "Whatever herbs you gave Shellpaw, they seem to be working like they were supposed to."

"That's great, Coriander," Lilacpaw said with amusement. "How are the kits?"

Coriander let loose a meow of happiness. "They're getting anxious to see the world. I just hope they can wait until all this snow melts."

Shellpaw watched the two she-cats talk about the kits and how great everything was going. Neither of them mentioned him again, which prodded his heart like a thorn. After everything he had done for both of them, they didn't seem to even care. Frustration once again started building up in his chest.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here with them?" Lilacpaw asked Coriander worriedly.

"I think so," she responded with slight uncertainty. "The worst of leaf-bare has to be past, right?"

"Only StarClan knows," the medicine cat answered.

As Shellpaw listened to them, a question began to form in his mind. Almost immediately, he wondered how he hadn't thought of it before. The solution to everything seemed so obvious! He and Coriander could both have a safe home. ThunderClan wasn't the only place around the lake for cats to settle down.

"What if Coriander and I join WindClan?" Shellpaw threw out, thinking the answer was clear.

Both she-cats turned to face him, as if having forgotten he was there. However, both of them looked confused. Perhaps… Shellpaw was right.


	14. Chapter 13

"You can use your blind spot to your advantage, Snappaw!" Brightheart called. "You just have to focus!"

It was Snappaw's second time training with Brightheart since Leafpool had allowed him out of camp two days earlier. The old warrior was nearly ready to retire to the elder's den, but she had gladly taken the responsibility of being Snappaw's new mentor following his disfigurement. The two of them worked well together, and Snappaw looked forward to each and every training session.

In the training hollow, Snappaw tried to focus his attention on his blind spot as Brightheart began to circle him. He heard the crunch of snow beneath his mentor's paws and prepared to dodge her incoming attack. She came at him sooner than he expected her to. With a hiss, she lunged at him and knocked into his side, sending him sprawling into the snow. The snow cushioned his fall, but the wind was still knocked out of his lungs.

"Fox dung!" Snappaw shouted once he regained his breath.

He struggled to his feet and began searching for Brightheart. She moved silently, keeping to Snappaw's blind spot. He tried to listen for her paw steps, though his ears rang from the previous blow.

The snow crunched to his left as Brightheart lunged again. This time, Snappaw was ready. He dodged her blow by jumping forward, then he rolled through the snow and emerged behind his mentor. He sprang onto her back and nipped at the skin on the back of her neck. He clung to her as she tried to shake him off, then fell off as she rolled to remove him. He used the momentum to roll back onto his paws and met her next attack head on.

Mentor and apprentice sprang at each other and met in midair. Brightheart, despite her age, was faster. She gave Snappaw a blow to the side of the head that made him dizzy. He fell to the snow-covered ground with a thump.

Snappaw tried to stand, but Brightheart held a paw on his back to keep him down. He pushed against her weight to no result. She didn't budge.

His mentor purred with amusement, saying, "You're doing well, Snappaw. I could hardly tell this was only our second training session."

She removed her paw from his back, allowing him to stand once more. On four paws once more, he shook the snow from his pelt and met his mentor's amused gaze.

"I couldn't do this without you, Brightheart," he replied with a purr. "You're the only one who understands what I'm going through."

"And let's hope it stays that way, too. Enough warriors are dying… we don't need any more disfigurements on top of that," she said.

The two of them decided to end their training for the day. Instead, they tried out hunting. By the time the sun was setting on the horizon, Snappaw had only managed to catch a scrawny shrew, while Brightheart had caught a vole and a squirrel that had come out of hiding. Having not officially been on a hunting patrol, they helped themselves to the shrew.

"Do you still think about Swiftpaw?" Snappaw eventually asked her.

Brightheart frowned as she took another bite of the pitiful meal. After chewing and swallowing the morsel, she remained silent for another few moments. Finally, she said, "Every day. I think about the warrior he should have been, and the family he could have had. But one stupid decision… and that's all gone."

"You think he would have had a mate and kits?" Snappaw inquired further.

"Oh, I don't know about that. Thinking back, he may have been a better match for Poppyfrost than Berrynose has been. But that doesn't matter. He's been dead for much longer than he was ever alive. And even if he's dead, I'm proud of what he tried to do. He was a warrior through and through," she concluded.

"What if you had been the one to die?" Snappaw pressed.

"I used to think about that all the time, but there's no use in dwelling on it. What happened, happened. Swiftpaw died and I survived. Cloudtail and I raised beautiful kits, and soon we'll both retire to the elder's den happily. I think Swiftpaw would have liked that."

The two of them finished their measly meal and brought the other two pieces of prey back to camp. Upon entering through the thorn tunnel, they immediately sensed the dismay. Many ThunderClan cats were gathered in the center of the clearing. A body lay in the middle of them.

"Not another death…" Snappaw muttered under his breath.

He and Brightheart deposited their prey on the pile, then joined the others in the center of the clearing. Leafpool sat next to the body of Daisy, reciting the words that would guide the former loner to StarClan. The ThunderClan queen was another victim of the illness that tore through the clan like a raging fire.

Daisy's remaining kits- Berrynose, Mousewhisker, and Rosepetal- sat closest to her. Poppyfrost rested her tail on her mate's shoulder wordlessly. Every she-cat in the clan who had bore kits took turns thanking Daisy for the help she had given them in raising their kits. Millie went first, then Cinderheart, Ivypool, Whitewing, and all the others. Brightheart went last, having been the last to arrive.

Once every former queen had their turn, Bramblestar walked up to Daisy's body. He towered over her, powerful, yet grieving. He lowered his head and whispered something to her, then gave his full attention to the clanmates that surrounded him.

"Daisy may not have been clan-born, but she was one of us all the same," he began. "She lived by the lake long before we ever arrived here, and I find it only fitting that she died here as well. I hope that we gave her the life that she wanted to live. Every cat in this clan has reason to thank her for all she has done for us. She will be dearly missed by all, and I wish this sickness had not taken her as soon as it did."

Snappaw sat in respectful silence with the rest of the clan. Soon, it came time for only those closest to her to keep vigil. Snappaw dipped his head in respect to the former queen, then turned in to the apprentice's den for the night.

His littermates, Spotpaw and Flypaw, were already fast asleep, along with the other healthy apprentices. He curled up in his nest and rested his tail over his eyes, blocking out the night.

…

In his dreams, Snappaw could see out of both eyes. He found himself in a brightly lit clearing, where a small waterfall spilled into a lake, which spat out a river leading far south. Snappaw purred and touched his nose to the water, enjoying the cool feeling it gave him.

He lapped at the water and felt it cool his body as it flowed through him. Joy spread through his body, giving him a warmth that this harsh leaf-bare had previously ripped from him.

Soon, a familiar black pelt emerged from the trees. Hollyleaf entered the clearing with her tail lashing from side to side. Snappaw turned from the lake and gave her his full attention.

"Welcome back, Snappaw," she said warmly. "Have you been practicing the moves I showed you last time?"

"Every chance I get," Snappaw responded to his kin.

"Alright. Care to show me?" Hollyleaf challenged.

Snappaw and his StarClan mentor began to circle each other, their claws sheathed. Hollyleaf's sharp green eyes showed nothing but amusement. Snappaw smiled. She flicked her tail, inviting him to make the first move.

And so it began.


	15. Chapter 14

Shadowpaw followed his mentor, Puddleshine, onto the tree bridge that would bring them to the gathering island. Ahead of them, Tigerstar led the way with his tail held high. He refused to show the weakness that battered ShadowClan like the claws of a hundred enemies. No cat was to know that ShadowClan was starving.

As he crossed the tree bridge, Shadowpaw couldn't help but think of the prophecy he had received. The fallen star… what could that mean? Was it an omen? And why had StarClan decided to share it with him, when there were so many more experienced medicine cats in the clans? He was just an apprentice, after all.

ShadowClan was only the second to arrive. The SkyClan cats paced the area, trying to keep warm. Leafstar and Hawkwing sat beneath the Great Oak, their tails curled over their paws. They sat with their heads together, deep in conversation. Few cats had accompanied them. Among the gathered cats, Shadowpaw saw Frecklewish and Fidgetstep. Aside from them, there was Cherrytail, her apprentice Swallowpaw, Tree, Cloudmist, Harrybrook, Blossomheart, and Snakepaw. A small crowd.

Following Tigerstar, Shadowpaw was acutely aware of just how few ShadowClan cats had come with them. Scorchfur, Strikestone, Antfur, Tawnypelt, Lightpaw, and Frondpaw were the only healthy ShadowClan cats that Tigerstar had chosen to accompany them. Puddleshine himself had wanted to stay back at camp and keep an eye on the starving cats, but their leader had insisted that both of their medicine cats come with them. He had to show that ShadowClan remained strong.

Arrogant furball, Shadowpaw thought of his father. He loved him, of course, but his way of thinking could get their clanmates killed.

While Tigerstar and Scorchfur joined Leafstar and Hawkwing beneath the Great Oak, Puddleshine and Shadowpaw padded over to Frecklewish and Fidgetstep.

"I hope you're doing better than we are right now," Frecklewish said to them in a way of greeting.

"We shouldn't be here," Puddleshine replied darkly. "Whether Tigerstar wants to admit it or not, we should always have a medicine cat at camp right now."

"No leader likes to admit their clan is weak," Fidgetstep commented.

"Speaking of, how is SkyClan fairing in this StarClan-cursed weather?" Puddleshine asked as politely as possible.

Frecklewish stared down at her paws sadly. "We lost Nectarwing the other day…"

"We're sorry to hear that," Puddleshine said with a dip of his head. "Ratscar has joined our warrior ancestors as well."

As the medicine cats exchanged polite talk, ThunderClan streamed into the clearing. With Bramblestar at their head, Ivypool followed with her clanmates. Jayfeather, Alderheart, Brackenfur, Whitewing, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Poppyfrost, Bristlepaw, and Thriftpaw followed behind their leader. Shadowpaw noticed that they, too, looked overly skinny.

Shadowpaw dipped his head to the ThunderClan medicine cats as they joined them at the edge of the clearing. Jayfeather, as usual, looked grumpy. Alderheart's tail twitched as he joined them, revealing his anxiousness. Not all was well in ThunderClan, Shadowpaw devised.

Harestar and Crowfeather led a few skinny WindClan warriors into the clearing. Alongside Kestrelflight and Lilacpaw, Nightcloud, Emberfoot, Breezepelt, Heathertail, and Brindlepelt followed their leader into the clearing. Shadowpaw noted that the WindClan cats looked worse off than any other Clan did. He figured the lack of shelter from the wind and snow was attacking them worse than any enemy could.

The leaders and deputies all gathered at the Great Oak. Bramblestar, Tigerstar, Leafstar, and Harestar all took their places in the branches, while their deputies sat at the roots. Tigerstar's tail twitched irritably as he seemed to notice RiverClan's absence.

"It's too cold for us to wait for long," Tigerstar muttered to the other leaders.

"Just a while longer, Tigerstar," Leafstar soothed. "This leaf-bare has been hard on us all."

"Some less than others…" Shadowpaw's father added.

The SkyClan leader frowned, but held her tongue at the remark. SkyClan's territory was more sheltered than any other territory around the lake. Mountains and hills protected them from the worst of the wind.

The clan cats waited in tense silence for the last clan to arrive on the island. In the clearing, each cat clustered together with their respective clanmates in order to keep warm. Shadowpaw pressed himself close to Puddleshine, shivering beyond belief.

Finally, Harestar scowled.

"If we wait for them any longer, our paws will fall off from this cold," the WindClan leader hissed. "If nobody else is going to start, I will-"

Just as he was about to start his report, the crunch of snow broke him off. The RiverClan medicine cat, Willowshine, padded hesitantly into the clearing. None of her clan was with her.

Bramblestar's ears perked up when he saw Willowshine. Concern shadowed his amber gaze as he stared down at the RiverClan medicine cat. He opened his jaws to speak.

"Willowshine, where are Mistystar and Reedwhisker?" he asked.

Willowshine stopped in the center of the clearing, all of the other cats having made her room. Her tail trailed behind her. Her eyes were heavy. Her pelt looked like she hadn't washed in days. Her fur was unkempt and messy. She was fur and bone.

Still, she looked up to meet the gazes of the four clan leaders. She took a deep breath before saying what she had to say.

"RiverClan will not be coming to the gathering tonight," she began. "This leaf-bare has been especially hard on us, with the lake and streams being frozen. We haven't tasted fish in what feels like moons. And on top of everything else… I'm afraid I have even worse news to share."

Shadowpaw held his breath, fearing the worst. The answer was on the tip of his own tongue. There was only one reason Willowshine would have come to the gathering alone…

"Mistystar and Reedwhisker are dead. Both succumbed to terrible illnesses, first Reedwhisker, then Mistystar. She was too weak to appoint another deputy after Reedwhisker's passing. Now, RiverClan is without a leader. And with the Moonpool frozen, we cannot contact StarClan for a sign. I fear we may have to wait until the thaw for us to even begin searching for a new leader…"

The clearing erupted with the shocked gasps and caterwauls of the gathered cats. All around him, Shadowpaw could hear cats asking questions and thinking aloud. Before long, his head felt like it would burst from all of the noise.

"Silence!" Tigerstar shouted above everyone else. The clearing went silent, and all eyes turned to him.

"Willowshine, what will RiverClan do now?" the ShadowClan leader asked the medicine cat.

Willowshine's tail tip twitched uncomfortably as she searched for an answer. She glanced up at the cloudless night sky, as if wondering what StarClan's plan was. Finally, when it seemed none was coming, she gave her answer.

"All we can do is wait," she responded despondently. "Mothwing is back at camp treating the rest of our sick cats, but there are just so many… I can't help but fear that this is the end of RiverClan."

Silence followed Willowshine's solemn statement. It was as though every cat in the clearing was holding their breath. Shadowpaw's mind raced with questions.

Who will lead RiverClan now? He wondered. Will they truly fall?

Shadowpaw looked up at the Great Oak as Bramblestar leaped down from his branch. He padded over to Willowshine and stood before her. His amber eyes seemed to be lost in thought. He dipped his head to the RiverClan medicine cat.

"It wasn't long ago that we nearly lost ShadowClan to Darktail and his Kin. StarClan told us then that no clan must fall." The ThunderClan leader glanced around the clearing, then continued. "RiverClan will survive. Willowshine, you have ThunderClan's full support."

"And SkyClan's," Leafstar chimed in from the Great Oak.

Tigerstar and Harestar echoed her statement, although neither of them looked particularly happy to be doing so. Tigerstar's tail twitched irritably, and Shadowpaw knew that his father didn't entirely mean his statement. ShadowClan was his first priority, and they were not much better off than RiverClan.

"Seek the light of the fallen star…"

Shadowpaw's ears perked up as he heard the familiar phrase. The voice seemed to whisper in his ear, hardly more noticeable than a light breeze. The ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice searched the clearing for any sign of who may have been speaking to him, but everyone was silent.

Willowshine dipped her head to the clan leaders. "Thank you. RiverClan will remember this, I promise."

"I think it's time we all go home," Harestar stated from his branch. "It's clear that this gathering is at an end."

The cats of the clans began to disperse at the WindClan leader's words. Shadowpaw began to follow Puddleshine toward Tigerstar when his mentor changed course. He intercepted Willowshine as she tried to leave for the tree bridge.

"Send word to ShadowClan if you need anything," Puddleshine told her. "We don't have many herbs to spare, but Bramblestar was right. RiverClan must not fall."

"Neither must ShadowClan," the RiverClan medicine cat responded. She then turned tail and disappeared into the brush.

Puddleshine's tail drooped as he watched his fellow medicine cat leave. Shadowpaw padded over to his mentor and touched his tail to his back.

"We should go. Our clanmates need us," he told him.

"May StarClan light their path," Puddleshine stated with barely a whisper.

The two ShadowClan medicine cats joined their clanmates and left the gathering island behind.

…

That night, Shadowpaw woke with a start in his nest. The medicine den was dark with the shadows of the night. Puddleshine's nest was empty, as were the nests of their sick clanmates. Shadowpaw stood up hesitantly, feeling suddenly cold.

He walked over to the den's entrance and peeked out into the camp. As he expected, it was empty. In the dead of night, nobody would be up and walking around, especially after a gathering. Shadowpaw walked out into the empty clearing.

As he did so, the ground around him appeared to shift. Before he could even shout for help, the scene around him changed. He found himself suddenly standing in the middle of the RiverClan camp. Around him, the RiverClan cats sat in a rough circle. They all looked overtly skinny and unkempt. Mothwing and Willowshine looked especially overworked.

Why am I here? Shadowpaw wondered.

Shadowpaw glanced at the ground just in front of him and immediately jumped back. The bodies of Mistystar and Reedwhisker lay sprawled out before him. Both of them looked tiny in death: mother and son, side by side.

Suddenly, Shadowpaw felt a tail touch his back. He nearly jumped out of his fur before he turned and saw who had touched him.

The former RiverClan leader and deputy stood before him, both of them looking much younger than they had in life. Mistystar's blue eyes, however, looked scared.

"Shadowpaw…" she muttered. "Where are we?"

"Are you dead, too?" Reedwhisker asked fearfully.

Shadowpaw stepped away from the ghost cats, careful to avoid treading on their bodies just behind him. He glanced up at the sky and saw that there were no stars. The sky was as black as pitch.

Seek the light of the fallen star…

"Why can't we find StarClan?" Reedwhisker pondered.

"I don't know…" Shadowpaw responded hesitantly.

Again, the ground seemed to shift beneath his paws. Before he could even blink, Shadowpaw found himself standing before the Moonpool. Its surface was entirely frozen over, and no stars shone in the reflection of the black night sky.

Shadowpaw let out a sigh and saw his breath billow in a white cloud in front of him. His body began to shake as cold threatened to consume him. He flattened his ears against his head and closed his eyes, fearful of what was coming.

Seek the light of the fallen star…

Shadowpaw opened his eyes just as a white light blinded him. A powerful force sent him flying backwards, causing him to land in a pile of snow. The cold became bitter, stronger than anything he had ever faced.

"Shadowpaw!"

"Shadowpaw!"

"SHADOWPAW!"

The voices grew louder inside his head. They screamed his name, as if calling for help. Their mews sounded pained. These cats were suffering…

Through the white light, Shadowpaw began to see cats he recognized. His littermates, Lightpaw and Pouncepaw. His parents, Dovewing and Tigerstar. His mentor, Puddleshine. Tawnypelt, Bramblestar, Ivypool, Whitewing, Birchfall...

More and more cats appeared to him through the white light, until he thought he could see every cat in the clans all at once. Then they all disappeared, and only one remained.

Shellpaw, a ThunderClan apprentice, stood before him. As Shadowpaw watched him, blood seemed to rise from the ground beneath him. The apprentice's white fur became stained with crimson blood. His eyes shone with malice.

Another cat appeared behind him, a golden yellow she-cat that Shadowpaw didn't recognize. Her green eyes revealed nothing but hate. She touched her tail to Shellpaw's back, her lips curled back in a snarl as she seemed to stare right through Shadowpaw.

Seek the light of the fallen star…

Just as suddenly as it appeared, everything vanished. Shadowpaw found himself back in his den, with Dovewing standing over him. Her eyes shone with fear.

"Thank StarClan, you're awake!" his mother shouted.

Puddleshine stood not far off as Dovewing paced around Shadowpaw and brushed her cheek against his. His mentor looked concerned.

"You were having another seizure," his mentor explained.

Shadowpaw tried to get to his paws, but his legs wouldn't support him. Dovewing gently pushed him back into his nest. Her breathing seemed shaky.

"It was bad this time," she said.

"You were muttering something… something about a fallen star," Puddleshine stated. "What did you see?"

Dovewing turned on the medicine cat with a glare. "He's only just woken up! Give him some time to rest!"

Shadowpaw touched his tail to his mother's back to calm her. "It's alright… I'm okay," he promised her. Turning to his mentor, he began, "It started right here, but there was nobody around. Then suddenly I was in RiverClan's camp… everybody was grieving. Mistystar and Reedwhisker's bodies were in the center of their camp. Except… their ghosts were still there. I don't think they can find StarClan."

"What?" Puddleshine asked, cutting him off.

"I don't know if what I saw was real, but Mistystar and Reedwhisker were still there. And they didn't have any stars in their fur. They were just… ghosts," Shadowpaw explained.

"Did you see anything else?" Puddleshine pressed.

"I was at the Moonpool- it was still frozen over. There was this light, and then I started seeing other cats- living cats. At first it was just my kin, and you, Puddleshine, but soon enough I was seeing every cat in the clans. And it stopped with Shellpaw, of ThunderClan. There was another cat, too. A she-cat with golden yellow fur and green eyes. I don't know who she was, though."

At the mention of the yellow she-cat, Puddleshine's ears perked up. Yet, he remained silent.

"Shellpaw?" Dovewing questioned. "What does Blossomfall and Thornclaw's son have to do with anything?"

"Blood started rising from the ground around him," Shadowpaw continued. "And then that yellow she-cat came up behind him, as if she was claiming him somehow. I think… I think Shellpaw might be dangerous somehow."

"Or in danger," Dovewing pointed out. "What if that yellow she-cat is the threat?"

"What does any of this have to do with a fallen star?" Puddleshine asked, not looking at either Dovewing or Shadowpaw. "Why were you talking about a fallen star?"

"'Seek the light of the fallen star,'" Shadowpaw quoted. "A voice kept saying that. It's been telling me that for a while now."

"And you didn't think to mention that to me?" his mentor growled impatiently.

"I didn't know what it meant," Shadowpaw defended. "I still don't."

"I'm your mentor, don't you think I could help you figure that out?" Puddleshine argued further.

Dovewing cut in then. "He's still young, Puddleshine. Don't be so hard on him!"

"No," Shadowpaw said. "He's right. I should have told him as soon as the voices started. But… I'm scared, Puddleshine. I don't know what any of this means, but I doubt it means anything good for the clans."

Puddleshine padded over to his apprentice and ran his tail across his spine. He closed his eyes, lost in thought. Then he said, "We'll figure this out, Shadowpaw. But I fear you may be right. I don't think this is a good omen."


	16. Chapter 15

WindClan's territory was entirely covered with snow, the moorland crushed beneath its weight. Lilacpaw hesitantly led the way, using her previously made pawmarks to guide Shellpaw and Coriander across the land. Shellpaw hissed as the snow brushed against his belly, sending shivers up and down his body. The wind alone threatened to send him sprawling across the snow-laden ground.

Behind him, Coriander braced herself determinedly against the harsh winds. She was heavy with her expecting litter and movement was not easy with the weather. Lilacpaw promised them safe passage into WindClan's camp, but it was ultimately Harestar who would decide whether they had a place within the clan.

Do I really trust Harestar? Shellpaw wondered. What will he think, seeing a ThunderClan apprentice in his camp?

Shellpaw was not confident in his plan to join WindClan. He wasn't entirely positive about being a clan cat any longer, but he felt that joining Lilacpaw's clan was the best thing for Coriander. That way the WindClan medicine cat apprentice could watch over her without risking her own safety travelling between the horseplace and her camp. Despite anything else on Shellpaw's mind, he knew that the safety of Coriander and Lilacpaw were of utmost importance.

"The timing of this isn't perfect," Lilacpaw had told him that morning. "We found out just last night that Mistystar and Reedwhisker of RiverClan are dead. Most of WindClan is sick or starving. Harestar is on edge, and he has every right to be. Are you sure you want to do this today?"

"If what you say is true, then it sounds like Harestar needs every able body he can get," Shellpaw had insisted. "I should be a warrior by now, and I'm healthy. WindClan needs me."

"Yes, because arrogant apprentices are just what WindClan's leader wants to deal with right now," Coriander had muttered. Shellpaw ignored her.

"We do this now," Shellpaw decided.

Now, as they were nearing WindClan's camp, Shellpaw was more uncertain than ever. Harestar had not been a leader for many moons, and he was still trying to live up to Onestar's legacy. The previous WindClan leader had been respected among all of the clans, even if he had been a bit arrogant at times. Meanwhile, Harestar was best known for having trained in the Dark Forest, and there remained clan cats who distrusted him. Bringing in a former ThunderClan cat may not be in his best interests, Shellpaw knew.

He can reject me, Shellpaw decided. But he can't send Coriander back to the horseplace. She needs a medicine cat, and WindClan needs more warriors. Harestar would have to be a mouse-brain to turn her away.

Lilacpaw held up her tail to stop Shellpaw and Coriander beside a gorse bush. She turned to face them, her sky-blue eyes looking serious.

"Wait here," she demanded. "If I just stroll into camp with two outsiders, my clanmates will have questions. I'll let Harestar know what's happening, then someone will come out to retrieve you. Got it?"

Shellpaw felt the question was mostly directed at him, so he nodded his response. Coriander settled beside the gorse bush and tried her best to shelter from the wind.

As Lilacpaw padded away, Shellpaw pressed himself up against Coriander. She was shivering from the cold, and he could hear her wheezing. The effort of the journey had not done her well. Shellpaw wondered if she would make it back to the horseplace if Harestar turned her away.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her worriedly.

"Like newleaf needs to arrive sooner," Coriander responded sarcastically.

"There will be more shelter in WindClan's camp," Shellpaw pointed out.

Coriander almost laughed. Then she said, "If Harestar lets us stay."

He will, Shellpaw thought, but kept to himself. He has to.

It was sunhigh by the time Shellpaw saw Featherpelt and Lilacpaw reach the top of the hill. The WindClan warrior stopped there, gesturing for Shellpaw and Coriander to join them. Shellpaw stood up quickly and helped Coriander to her paws. Shellpaw helped the queen keep her balance as they joined the WindClan cats at the top of the hill.

"Harestar has agreed to hear what you have to say," Featherpelt told them when they reached the top.

"Thank you," Coriander replied breathlessly.

"Don't thank me yet," Featherpelt said as she began leading them toward the camp entrance.

Shellpaw and Lilacpaw shared a look as they descended the hill toward WindClan's camp. Shellpaw noticed that she seemed concerned, and he wondered if she was more concerned for herself or for Coriander. He was smart enough to know that she wasn't concerned for him. As far as he knew, they were friends, but he was unsure of whether Lilacpaw thought the same of him.

The camp was a shallow scoop in the ground, surrounded by heather and open to the sky above. In greenleaf, that openness was a blessing to them. However, with the intensity of that leaf-bare, Shellpaw suspected that the WindClan cats were not nearly as thankful for the open sky as they typically would have been. The only shelter from the wind and snow came from the dens, which themselves were woven from heather and willow branches.

As Featherpelt and Lilacpaw led them into the camp, Shellpaw felt the eyes of every WindClan cat fall on him. Ahead of them, he noticed the brown and white pelt of Harestar standing on top of a small hill. A hole just within that hill seemed to lead into Harestar's underground den.

Lilacpaw stepped over to the side of her mentor, Kestrelflight. Featherpelt, meanwhile, led Shellpaw and Coriander directly to the foot of the hill Harestar stood upon. The WindClan deputy, Crowfeather, emerged from one of the dens and joined them there. He stood at the foot of the hill, beneath Harestar and facing the intruders. Featherpelt dipped her head to the leader and deputy, then stepped away from the hill and joined her clanmates in the center of the clearing.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highhill for a clan meeting!" Harestar yowled, although most of his clanmates had already gathered in the clearing.

Shellpaw looked out into the group of cats and recognized few of them by name. The younger apprentices, Sootpaw and Flaxpaw, sat beside their mentors, Larkwing and Featherpelt. Aside from them, he only recognized Nightcloud, Heathertail, and Breezepelt. Every other cats' name escaped his memory.

Shellpaw returned his attention to Harestar, who looked at him expectantly.

"It appears we have guests in our presence," the WindClan leader growled, spitting the word 'guests' as if it left a sour taste in his mouth. He fixed his attention on Coriander, and his gaze softened slightly. "Coriander, I was sorry to hear about Smoky. He has been a friend to WindClan ever since the Great Journey, and he will be missed."

Coriander dipped her head politely to the leader, saying, "Thank you, Harestar. I miss him with each day that passes."

"My medicine cat apprentice has suggested to me that you join us as a queen," Harestar stated, annoyance barely detectable in his tone. "The truth is, WindClan is in need of warriors, and your kits would be great additions to our ranks. If it is your wish, I will gladly allow you to stay with us."

"It is," the expecting queen replied.

Harestar nodded in satisfaction. "Then, by all means, join your new clanmates. I'll have Flaxpaw and Sootpaw build you a nest in the nursery."

"Thank you, Harestar. You're too kind," Coriander said, her joy clear in her voice. She stood up and walked over to a young queen with kits of her own. There, the three young kits scampered around their mother's paws, tripping over themselves and growling fiercely. Their mother shushed them as Coriander took her place beside them.

Now, Shellpaw stood alone at the head of the clearing. His tail twitched as he looked up at Harestar. The WindClan leader's gaze revealed nothing, but his tail lashed back and forth maliciously. His lips curled in the beginning of a snarl as he met Shellpaw's own gaze.

"So, tell me, why has Lilacpaw brought a ThunderClan apprentice into my camp?" Harestar asked with a hint of a growl.

Shellpaw stood tall as he faced the WindClan leader. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, but he refused to let his nerves through to his voice as he responded. "ThunderClan is not my home any longer. I left them, with no intent of going back as I did. I have completed my training as a ThunderClan warrior, but still, Bramblestar refused to grant me my warrior name. Clearly, my skills are wasted in the forest. It is my hope that you may have use for them here, in WindClan."

"And why should I take in an apprentice that defected from the clan he was born into?" the leader questioned.

Shellpaw's nerves gave way to annoyance at the WindClan leader's insulting response. 'Do you doubt me?' he wanted to ask. Still, he held back. He didn't want to disrespect Harestar in front of his whole clan.

"Just because a cat is born into one clan doesn't mean they can't feel loyalty to another. Tawnypelt and Dovewing of ShadowClan were both born ThunderClan, but does Tigerstar doubt their loyalty?" Shellpaw replied coolly.

Harestar glared at Shellpaw then. "Tigerstar is the son of Tawnypelt and the mate of Dovewing. To doubt their loyalty would be to doubt his own place within the clan he leads."

Shellpaw realized his mistake and quickly tried to think of other cats that had been born in other clans. His mind went blank. Instead, he could only think of cats within ThunderClan that had been born outside of the clans entirely. He doubted Harestar would count them.

"That's what I thought," Harestar eventually said.

"Just send him away and be done with it!" Crowfeather hissed from his place at the foot of the Highhill.

Shellpaw jumped up then, instinctively unsheathing his claws. He landed on all fours and dug his claws into the ground. His body quivered with undisguised rage as he faced the leader and deputy of WindClan.

"Look at yourselves!" he yowled. "The cats of WindClan are starving! You all look like you haven't had a decent meal since leaf-fall ended moons ago! I can help you! You need me! I'm healthy, and I happen to be a great hunter!"

"A great hunter in ThunderClan, maybe," a tom's voice muttered from somewhere behind him, only adding to Shellpaw's anger.

Crowfeather dug his own claws into the snow-covered ground in front of him. "Harestar, say the word and I'll wipe that smug look right off his face."

"I know," the leader responded to his deputy evenly. "Shellpaw, you proved how little loyalty you have when you left ThunderClan. If you want to pretend you're loyal to WindClan, I suggest you stop kidding yourself. Featherpelt and Heathertail will escort you to the edge of our territory. From there, I suggest you leave clan territory and make your own path. There is no place for you in WindClan."

Shellpaw's heart dropped like a stone in his chest. He quivered with absolute rage as he stared in disbelief at Harestar. He couldn't bring himself to look at Lilacpaw or Coriander. Somehow, he felt like he had failed them by being turned away.

"My loyalty to WindClan would never waver if you let me stay, Harestar," Shellpaw attempted feebly, trying to hide his anger.

"You heard him," Crowfeather stated. "Featherpelt and Heathertail will bring you to the border. Go, before we treat you as we would an enemy."

Finally, Shellpaw looked to Lilacpaw for support. He found that she wouldn't meet his gaze, and that hurt worse than Harestar's rejection.

Perhaps we were never friends, he thought bitterly. I was just a fool to believe that.

Before he could give in to his rage, Shellpaw found Featherpelt and Heathertail and followed them out of the camp. Neither of them spoke to him, and he didn't expect them to.

The cold felt somehow more bitter as the two she-cats led him through the snow. He shivered, and he didn't know whether it was from the cold, his rage, or both. WindClan had accepted Coriander, but had rejected him. It was what he had expected to happen, but still, the confirmation of their rejection hurt. He truly had no place within the clans now.

Featherpelt and Heathertail brought him to the edge of WindClan territory. There, the two she-cats watched wordlessly as Shellpaw crossed the border into the unclaimed territory beyond the lake. From the other side, he looked back at them.

"Harestar is making a mistake," he attempted.

"You're the one who made a mistake, Shellpaw," Heathertail said. "You should never have come here. Not after abandoning your own clan."

Shellpaw tried to think of a fiery retort, but came up short. Instead, he shook his head solemnly and turned away from the WindClan warriors. He began his journey into the great beyond without looking back again.

He was on his own now.


End file.
